The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist
by Yumi-chan-Hamano
Summary: Yuu and Mika are childhood friends. When they were 12, Mika left and Yuu hadn't heard from him since. One day, Yuu was just strolling through the park when a really cute blonde called him out. Yuu didn't recognize her, but it seemed like she knew him. Even after 7 years, Yuu finds the person that makes his heart race a million beats a second.
1. Chapter 1

It was a Friday afternoon and since his friends decided to go on a double date, Yuu decided not to be the fifth wheel. Even during regular hangouts, he felt like a fifth wheel. He doesn't even want to imagine the things that happen during their dates.

Yuu had his share of past relationships but none lasted long as he had specific expectations and a guarded mind set thanks to his parents.

But he never thought in his life that he would not recognize a cute girl. But there he was, standing in front of a super cute girl who knew him by his full name. Yuu could hear people around them whispering to each other but he was too focused on the beautiful blonde before him.

Her glossy pink lips curled up into a smile but Yuu could only stare at her in disbelief. He didn't know a lot of people his age and he would surely remember someone with wavy blonde hair that shone in the afternoon sunlight.

Yuu watched as she raised her hands to remove her dark shades. Honestly, it was the middle of fall so Yuu saw no reason for her to be wearing sunglasses anyways. But he suddenly forgot how to breathe when he met with beautiful blue eyes. They sparkle knowingly and Yuu swore he only saw her smile widen.

"Ummm..." Yuu slowly drawled out and the other looked at him questioningly. "I'm really sorry but uh, who are you?"

"You don't remember?" she asked as she tilted her head to the side slightly. He noticed the hurt in her eyes but she looked even cuter with her head tilted like that. He barely even knew her, let alone her name, and he could feel himself falling for her.

Her eyes widen when she lifted a lock of her hair that was tickling her cheek. She looked back at Yuu and smiled almost apologetically.

"I-" Whatever the blonde was going to say was cut off by a car horn. They both turned to the park entrance to see a sleek black car waiting at the entrance.

"That's a nice ride," Yuu said but he could hear the girl mumble something under her breath. "Did you say something?"

"No, I uh... I need to go now so um, can we meet here again tomorrow at noon?" she said as she made nervous glances back at the entrance.

"Yeah, I'm free all day tomorrow. So noon right?" Yuu confirmed and she nodded with another one of her radiant smiles.

She slipped her shades back on before waving at Yuu and running off to the car. Yuu slowly waved back and watched her disappear into the black car. He was starting to wonder if he met anyone rich enough to have someone open the door for her to enter.

Then he remembered he was friends with a Hiragi and a Sanguu. He still wondered how they became and stayed friends.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

"How did it go with this someone you know? I hope it was worth stopping the car."

"Sorry, mama Krul. He was a really good friend of mine," The small pink haired lady smiled.

"He must be a really good friend if you forgotten about your disguise, my dear Mikaela." A blush grew on his face and she suppressed a small giggle upon seeing such a reaction.

"He was a close friend. I never thought I'd see him again." Krul smiled back at the genuine smile on her son's face. He was great at masking his emotions but Krul was even better at reading facial expressions. Despite all the hardships they endured, Mika reserved that smile for when he's alone with Krul. But now there could be someone else that made her son happy. The thought warmed her heart. "Oh no, I promised him to meet him here again tomorrow. I'm really sorry I made the decision on my own. Will that interfere with the schedule?"

Krul snorted. "You start Monday. Get yourself together by then."

"Thank you!" Mika exclaimed and would have hugged the petite lady if he wasn't restrained by the seat belt.

"Yeah yeah," Krul said, waving her hand dismissively. But she was also secretly happy for her son.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Yuu groaned as he rolled onto his side. He slowly opened one eye to glance at the clock. He shot in bed and threw the covers off himself. He rushed through his morning routine and threw on some clean clothes.

By the time he left his house, it was already noon. Luckily, he lived close to the park. By the time he got there, he was panting from running. He hoped that he wasn't so late that she left already.

It only occurred to him when he got home that he never asked the blonde for her contact information or even her name. He's really hoping he didn't blow his only chance to see her again because there was something oddly familiar about her.

"Yuu-chan!"

There was only one person that uses that nickname. Or the only one person he would allow to use such an embarrassing nickname.

He looked up to see striking blue eyes but his own eyes didn't linger there for long as he took in the appearance of the other. Puberty definitely treated him well. His blond hair framed his face and the dazzling smile he'd recognize anywhere.

"Mika..."

Yuu could feel his heart race in his chest as the blond made his way towards him. There stood his best friend and first crush.


	2. Chapter 2

Mika continued to smiling at him but Yuu's mind was blank and incapable of forming a coherent thought.

"How?" was the only word Yuu could muster up after having a million thoughts swirled in his head. It was absolutely unfair to his little heart how stunning Mika looked in the blue jacket that complimented his eyes. However, Yuu managed to catch the other off guard with his question as the blond let out a nervous laugh and scratched his cheek with his index finger.

"About that-" But his explanation was cut short when Yuu's stomach rumbled. Mika laughed again when Yuu's face grew red as he clutched his stomach. "Maybe lunch would be a good idea. And I'll explain later when we're not in public."

"I actually came here looking for someone," Yuu said and Mika raised his hand to cover over his mouth but Yuu could tell that the blond was trying to hide his smile. "Hey! I have friends too!"

"Sorry sorry, it's not that, I promise. And I'm sure she won't mind if you hung out with me instead."

"Wait, you know her?" Mika's eyes widened at the question.

"Um, something like that…" Mika said as his words trailed off. "Anything suggestions for lunch spots?"

"There's a great fast food place around the corner," Yuu said, already walking out of the park with Mika following behind. He was still wondering about the mystery girl, but he would choose his best friend over a random girl any day.

"Fast food?"

"Once or twice won't kill you, Mika. Besides, I'm hungry."

After they ordered and got their food, they sat down in a more secluded area of the restaurant. Mika started asking Yuu about his school experience. Yuu very happily ranted about his terrible freshman year of high school. And then it led into how he met his friends.

There were many points during their conversation that Mika was convinced that Yuu needed new friends even though Yuu insisted they were good people. Yuu also mentioned that Guren and Shinya finally got together and Guren proposed about a few months ago.

Yuu started taking about his experience in university, especially since Shinoa was there to make his life interesting. Then a question popped into his head.

"Hey Mika, did you come back to attend university?"

"No, I came back for... work reasons," Mika hesitated with the last two words.

"Spill it, you've been acting weirdly ever since we met in the park. Every time I've asked you about yourself, you either said you'll tell me later or changed the topic back to me," Yuu said and Mika looked at him with surprise.

"Ah, Yuu-chan did get smarter over the time I was gone." Yuu wanted to snap at his old friend but realized it was probably one of his tries to change the topic. He was about to speak up when Mika turned to watch the streets beyond the window and asked, "Can you keep a secret?"

Yuu fought the urge to roll his eyes even if Mika wasn't watching. But the other's gaze was unfocused and it worried Yuu.

"I mean I guess. No way, are you..." Yuu paused as he looked around the restaurant and leaned closer to Mika and whispered. "Are you working for the government or something top secret?"

Yuu would have yelled at Mika if he wasn't so entranced by the beautiful laughter that came from his blond friend. Yuu was sure that most, if not all, of the customers were watching and staring at them. But he could ignore them as he enjoyed the view of Mika tried to stifle his laughter moments later.

"You think too highly of me," Mika said as his laugh subsided, but a wide grin still on his face.

"Well, you kind of just up and left me all those years ago so what am I supposed to think?" Yuu said angrily. Mika softly smiled at him but Yuu could see the sadness and guilt in the other's bright blue eyes.

"Since we're done eating, you want to come over to my house?"

"What are you planning Mika? I swear if you-"

"You wanted answers right? I would suggest your house but I don't know how Guren would feel about seeing me at your house. I also have something to show you."

"Okay fine. But let's take my car," Yuu said, excited to show off for his ride.

"Your car?" Mika asked with a hint of amusement.

As they left the restaurant and walked to Yuu's house, he went on to describe his car and how it was more awesome than other ones. Mika listened with amusement because Yuu was practically over moon while he talked. He knew little about cars so a lot of the things Yuu said actually confused him more than not.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

"It was my birthday too! Guren had the nerves to refuse!" Yuu said as he steered to the left.

"Yuu-chan, you asked him for a car. I wouldn't trust your driving either," Mika laughed lightly.

"Yet you're sitting in my car when I'm driving."

"I was a little worried when I got in," Mika joked. "Take the next right."

"I just met up with you again, I'm not going to let you die on me like that," Yuu said as he pulled up to a gated community. "Uh Mika, are you sure this is the right place?"

"Yup." Yuu noticed in the corner of his eyes that Mika pulling something out of his pocket. "Pull up to the booth and show this pass."

As a safe driver, Yuu stopped by the booth before taking the pass from Mika and showing it to the guard. The man eyed the pass before pressing a button to open the large iron gates. Yuu handed the plastic badge back to Mika before driving forward.

"Take a left and then find numbers 46 on the right," the blond instructed.

"Mika," Yuu said in a serious tone while focused on driving and glancing at the house numbers as they go, "You cannot convince me that you don't work for the government if you live in place like this."

"I can assure you that I do not. I'll explain everything once we get there," Mika said with a small laugh as they pulled up on the driveway. Mika exited out of the car first with Yuu following behind. Yuu noted that it was slightly bigger than his old house used to live with Guren before they moved in with Shinya. He still felt like he was intruding into their private home even though Shinya insisted he was not.

But waking up to your guardian making out with his fiancé in kitchen was not how Yuu wanted to start his day. Especially when one of them noticed him but pretended he's not there and continued what they were doing. Yuu knew then that Shinya lived fearlessly.

"Welcome to my domain," Mika announced as he opened the door. Yuu snapped out of his thoughts as he stepped into the house. It was a bit bare compared to how he thought it would look and he noticed some cardboard boxes in the corner of the living room. "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Mika, we just had lunch," Yuu deadpanned.

"I know, I know," Mika laughed, "Just being a good host. Sorry about the mess too. Just moved in yesterday."

"Wait, you just moved in?"

"Yeah, I got off the plane around noon. But that's a story for later," Mika said as he closed his front door. "So Yuu-chan, have you heard of Misako Hyakuya?"

"Uh... I think I heard some of my classmates talk about her. Oh wait, I think Shinoa is a really big fan. Is she an actress or something?"

"A model actually," Mika said as he motioned towards the stairs. "Come, there's something I want to show you."

"What is it exactly?"

"You'll see! And I'll give you a proper tour of the house later too," Mika said and stopped at the second door on the left. When he opened the door and turned on the light, Yuu felt like he was assaulted by an array of bright colours. After adjusting to the lighting of the room, he saw that the room was filled with dresses, accessories, and lastly a wig that looks very, very familiar. The colour also looked very close to Mika's own hair.

"Mika, do you have a long lost sister? Is that who I met yesterday?"

"Not at all. I'm still an only child. Also that girl was me."

"What?"

* * *

Mika, you don't just casually mention it. You're confusing Yuu.

Next chapter might be a little dry with backstory stuff but it's important for both plot reasons and for you guys to know :)


	3. Chapter 3

"This might take a while to explain," Mika said as they were seating on the couch in the living room.

"Then you better start," Yuu said, eyeing his friend.

"Hmm, where should I start?" Mika said as he laid back in the soft couch. "Well, to start off, my parents turned out not to be my biological parents."

"What?!" Yuu nearly shrieked in Mika's ear.

"You were never this loud when we were kids."

"Shut up. What do you mean they weren't your parents, er, biological parents?" Yuu had only seen Mika's 'parents' the few times they were home when Yuu was at Mika's house. They often went to his house as it was closer to the school. Guren seen Mika so often he wondered if he had a second child.

"My real mother wasn't capable of caring for a young child at the time so she gave me to her friend to care for."

"Which were your parents that I've seen," Yuu whispered and Mika nodded. "But it doesn't make sense why you left!"

Yuu and Mika were close friends, really close. Their relationship went beyond best friends. It took Mika's leave for him to realize that he was in love with the blond. But it didn't take him long this time to realize those feelings never faded.

"You see, they ended up getting a divorce when I was 12. And when there's a child involved, they had to decide who gets custody. But instead, they decided to bring me back to my birth mother. The plan was that they were going to tell me about her when I was 16, but the circumstances didn't allow for it."

"Wait, so you just went back to the woman that gave you up in the first place? How do you even know she wants you back?" Yuu said and noticed how his friend's brilliant blue eyes dimmed when he said that. "Sorry, I-I didn't mean it like that!"

"It's okay. I know you don't think before you say things."

"Hey!" Yuu snapped but he was happy to heard Mika's laugh, even if it was at his expense.

"My two mothers were good friends. So when my birth mother heard about their divorce, she told them that she was ready to take me back. Of course, they gave me a choice of who I wanted to go with but I didn't want my two parents to be reminded of their failed marriage so I went with Mama Krul."

"Krul?"

"Krul Tepes is my birth mother."

"Does that mean you're Mikaela Tepes then?" Yuu asked as a joke but Mika looked like he was thinking about something.

"I guess you're right. I've been using the name Misako so much I nearly forgot my own."

"So you were serious when you said that earlier?" Mika found it amusing that Yuu still looked surprised even after all that, "Wow, you make a really cute girl."

"Thank you." Yuu blushed even harder when he saw Mika's smile. He still questioned whether or not Mika caught on to his blushing that led to him keeping on smiling at Yuu. "I suppose that's why she became so famous then."

"Hold on, you lost me again. You're Mika, but you're also Misako, who is a well-known female model?" Mika slowly nodded. "I… What even happened during these years you were gone?"

"This is a story in itself," Mika laughed. "So I moved back to Russia with Mama Krul after I learned about the divorce. And well, it turns out that she's a famous designer in Europe. I was fascinated with her work and was curious about female clothing since that's what she designed. One day, I wanted to try on some and I loved wearing them. Krul thought it was cute on me too and when I went into public with a dress, everyone thought I was a girl. Krul wanted to correct them but it was probably to easier to play along instead of explaining it to them. Then Krul used me as her model for some of her designs and I happily helped her. I was soon hired as a backup model for the company she worked with after I helped out once and my career just kind of took off. And to make our lives even easier, we created Misako Hyakuya as my female persona. It's fun though. I managed to become an internationally known model too."

"Wow, that... wow," Yuu said as he tried to absorb the information.

"That more or less was what happened. The company Mama Krul worked with was taken in by a larger company and they had a branch office in Japan so we came here. I'd also be lying if I said that part of the reason why I came back wasn't because I wanted to see you again." Yuu swore his heart stopped. He felt stupidly happy but didn't dare look at the blond. Instead, he focused his attention on the sole painting hanging on the wall directly across from them. He personally was not a fan of still life art but he admired the artist's painting techniques.

"Hey Mika, if you're working right now, do you plan on going back to school?" Yuu found himself asking as he looked back at Mika.

"I was thinking about it but I'm not sure what to major in," Mika admitted, "I just finished high school and went into modelling as a full-time job. What are you studying?"

"Me? My friends said I have talent in visual art so I'm majoring in general arts right now but I have no clue what career path I want to take. I was thinking maybe photography but I mostly take pictures as references for my artwork but I'm only in my first year so I have time to figure it out."

"You still draw Yuu-chan?"

"Hey! Don't say it like that! I improved a lot from those scribbles." Yuu used to draw, or doodle, out of boredom. Mika was his only close friend at the time and after he left, Yuu had too much time on his hand with Mika's absence. Soon drawing became a habit to avoid having to interact with others. It got to the point where Guren had to dare him to make a friend when he entered high school. And that was how he met Yoichi. Over the two years, Yuu had gotten unexpectedly better at art and Yoichi managed to catch a glimpse of his work as he usually hid his work from prying eyes. Soon they became friends and their group expanded as well as his confidence in his work.

"I would love to see your work someday," Mika said, pulling Yuu out of his own thoughts.

"I can bring my sketchbook to show you next time," Yuu offered.

"I would love that."

Yuu's heart leaped with joy at the thought of seeing Mika again. It might have been a few years since they last time they've seen or talked to each other but they were still very close friends.

* * *

Now that the background stuff is out of the way, we can move along with the plot :D


	4. Chapter 4

After their initial meeting, Mika and Yuu kept in contact as they lived their separate lives. Yuu was busy with his classes and assignments while Mika was working full time as a model. Sometimes, he wondered how much free time Mika had on his hands because his replies were either almost instantaneous or naught for hours.

It was nice as they would each talk so casually as if they have been a part of each other's life for past 7 years. Yuu talked a lot about his life while Mika would respond to them. As much as he wanted to learn more about Mika, the blond kept saying he had nothing interesting to share.

Despite their constant texting, Yuu liked seeing Mika in person. As useful as technology was, it didn't feel the same as seeing the person.

But it still amazed him how much of a difference a single person could make in one's life. Yuu never felt happier to see his long-time crush again. At first, he wasn't sure about his feelings when Mika moved away, but he knew that what he felt was love when the blond came back into his life.

Yuu wasn't surprised at all that no one recognized the famous model since Mika used a female persona. However, the blond was pretty famous in his own way.

"Are you here by yourself?"

"If you're not busy, why not hang out with us?"

Yuu sighed as he returned from buying popcorn. No matter where they went, Mika was always being hit on by people. He wished he could just walk in between the two girls and claimed the blond as his. But his relationship with Mika was friends, best friends at most.

Maybe they were Mika's type. Yuu wouldn't know.

"Yuu-chan!" Yuu looked up again to see Mika excuse himself from the two and walked to him. "What took you so long?"

"There's a huge line so you should be thankful that I even decided to get popcorn for us," Yuu retorted.

"Ah, but isn't it you who wanted the popcorn more than me?" Mika asked as they walked off.

"Shut up."

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

The movie was a great choice because Yuu never laughed harder in his life. Mika had a great time as well despite being quieter with his clear amusement towards the movie.

The popcorn was unfinished by the time the movie ended because they spent more time laughing than eating. But it didn't matter as Yuu ate the rest during the credits as they played bloopers. They couldn't decide if the original scenes were better or the bloopers since they were both really funny.

It wasn't until they left the theatre, that Yuu's phone rang.

"Girlfriend?" Mika teased when Yuu groaned at the caller ID.

"I've been single for a while now. And it's Guren," Yuu said and then he looked up at Mika in panic, scaring the blond as well. "I totally forgot that Shinya wanted me to invite you over for dinner!"

"Um, did they have an idea of when I can come over? I won't mind seeing them again," Mika said and Yuu smiled sheepishly at him.

"It's today…" Mika laughed and Yuu slapped him on the arm for being inconsiderate of his possibly death by Guren's hands as he missed the call from his scary father.

"Sorry sorry," Mika said when he saw the dread on Yuu's face. "I'm free all of today so I can come by."

"That's something. Let's head to my house before Guren chews me," Yuu said.

On their way back to his house, Yuu checked to see he missed five calls from Shinya, two from Guren, and many text messages. However, most of those texts were from his friend group where Shinoa and Kimizuki were having some kind of face off.

Yuu's phone went off again as they got to the driveway of his house. He decided not to answer anyways because he was home.

"You didn't move," Mika said after Yuu pressed the decline on the incoming phone call.

"Yeah, it's a nice house after all," Yuu said and unlocked the front door. "It's filled with memories. You know the rules-"

"YUUICHIROU ICHINOSE, YOU-"

Guren paused when he saw the mortified expression on his son's face and surprised look on the blond's.

"Um, it's nice to see you again, Guren-san," Mika said and bowed in respect.

"Oh yeah, this is Mika by the way," Yuu said nervously. He was practically walking on eggshells with Guren as he missed so many of his parents' calls.

He was lucky that the topic was quickly forgotten when Shinya walked out of the kitchen and pulled Mika into their house. His parents were happy to see Mika again, though Guren didn't look the part. Shinya wouldn't stop embarrassing him in front of Mika as he told the blond how Yuu got pretty down when he came to terms with the fact that Mika was gone.

But by the topic died down when Guren asked about Mika's life. Both his parents were surprised when Mika gave the big news that he was now with his biological mother. Mika was suspiciously skillful at hiding certain parts of his life like his modelling job when talking about his mother's career in fashion.

Yuu kept quiet for most of the dinner as he watched Mika converse with Shinya mostly. He noticed Guren was also observing Mika silently.

Guren was never one to really talk anyways. It was mostly Shinya that Mika talked to. It was also obviously Shinya's idea to invite Mika over when Yuu accidently mentioned that Mika was back. It wasn't that he was keeping it a secret from his parents; he wanted to surprise them and surprised them he did.

"Thanks for coming over tonight," Yuu said as they arrived at Mika's house.

"It's nothing. I wanted to see your parents again, after all. They did help take care of me when I was younger," Mika said as he unclasped the seatbelt. "Thank you for driving me back. Have a good night Yuu-chan."

"Yeah, good night," Yuu said and Mika closed the car door. Yuu watched as Mika unlocked the front door and waved at him before entering his house. Yuu only left when he saw Mika closed the door.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Yuu sighed at the messages blowing up his phone. Only when he read the more recent messages, he realized why there was insane amount of texting going on in their small friend group.

Valentine's Day was coming up.

He was just skimming the messages when something caught his eye.

 **Shinoa:** Let's face it, cherry boy would never have the guts to ask his crush out

 **Mitsuba:** As if Yuu would even have one

 **Yoichi:** I think that Yuu-kun has someone he likes.

 **Shinoa:** See! Yoichi agrees with me!

 **Mitsuba:** He's the least romantic guy I've seen

 **Shinoa:** That's because you're not wrong lol

Yuu growled at the messages and turned off his phone. He didn't care if his friends figured out that he had a crush on his childhood best friend, but there was nothing they could do to make him ask Mika out on a date.

As much as he wanted to, Yuu simply was not ready. He feared of losing Mika again and that's the last thing he wants to do.


	5. Chapter 5

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Have this special update!

* * *

Yuu groaned as he walked through the park. There were couples everywhere, reminding him of how single he was.

This year, Valentine's Day was on a Sunday and everyone was out of their houses to be disgustingly cute with their significant other. It wasn't that Yuu wasn't used to seeing it every single year, but he had nothing to do on a Sunday and was kicked out of the house by Guren.

He would call up Yoichi or even Shinoa, but each had their own partner to celebrate the holiday with. According to the group chat, Kimizuki was trying to get together something for Yoichi while Mitsuba was apparently not subtle enough about her surprise for Shinoa. They were also teasing Yuu and his singleness, which prompted them to again encourage Yuu to pursue his crush.

He tried to lie that he didn't have a crush on anyone but it backfired as it was 'obvious' that he did. They continued to tease him until Yoichi came to his rescue. He still thinks that the brunet was an angel sent from heaven.

He used to think that Mika was an angel too, but now the blond was practically a god among humans. Yuu found himself blushing at Mika's photogenic face while eating alone at food court.

Luckily for him, everyone else was either too lovey dovey with their partner or moping around like him to notice him. Yuu felt like single people like him shouldn't even be out on a day where couples were the main theme of the day. He was practically drowning in affection from all around him.

The couple sitting at the table directly in front of Yuu was sharing a drink and trying to feed each other. He really wanted to move but there was nowhere to escape.

He could have pretended to blend in with the crowd or just hung out at Mika's house, but his stupid reflexes worked against him. Two days before Valentine's Day, Mika had called him. It wasn't a text message or voice mail; it was a call. Yuu panicked and answered the call with haste. Mika asked if he was available on the day of Valentine's but he was still in a state of heightened adrenaline and lied that he had plans. Mika even sounded a little disappointed. Probably had something he wanted to do but Yuu's reflex answer destroyed all of that. He tried to work around it but Mika denied everything else before hanging up. This was another reason why Yuu was single. He's just not dating material.

Guren texted him earlier and said that he and Shinya was going out for a romantic dinner. And because they were going out, no one was home to cook for him. So here he is, sitting in the food court alone, surrounded by couples.

He's honestly happy for his parents. It took Guren a while for him to accept Shinya after his mother passed. Yuu was still too young when she left but Shinya was there to help after his sister's passing. Most of his memories were with Shinya and Guren anyways. It was only in photos that he saw him and his mother together. Sometimes he wished he remembered her more, but it would only hurt more when she passed.

Yuu shook his head to rid of the sad thoughts bubbling in his head. Today was Valentines; a day for Guren and Shinya to celebrate without Yuu hanging around and being a nuisance. He was happy for his parents. Even if he were home, the two would probably shamelessly make out in the living room again.

When he was 14, he woke up on Valentine's Day morning to find his parents making out in the kitchen. While it wasn't too entirely scarring, it wasn't something that Yuu needed to see.

He decided to go home after dinner since the mall was just full of couples. And seeing how it was almost seven o'clock at night, his parents should have left for their romantic dinner. Guren always liked to book his dinner reservation at 6:30. Yuu never really understood that.

The sun already started to set, making the air chillier than morning. His sweater wasn't able to keep him as warm as he would like. He slightly regretted his decision not to take his car, but he could waste some time just walking to the mall and back. The streetlights turned on during his walk back and scared the living out of Yuu. But no one was around to see him so he was thankful for that.

When he was about to reach his house, he saw someone standing by his front gate. With the help of the nearby streetlights, he recognized the blond hair from anywhere.

"Mika?" Yuu called out just to confirm his suspicion.

"Hey Yuu-chan," Mika replied with his usual smile. Now that Yuu was closer, he could see Mika's cheeks and nose flushed red; most likely from standing in the cold for a period of time.

"Come inside, you look cold," Yuu said and unlocked the gate to his house.

"It's fine. I was going to leave after I saw you anyways," Mika said and held out a white box tied with a red ribbon. "Happy Valentine's Day, Yuu-chan."

Yuu slowly reached out and cradled the gift carefully in his hands. Mika waited to give him this?

"No one was home when I came by so I decided to wait for you to come home," Mika explained when he saw Yuu staring at the gift. Yuu looked back at Mika while multiple emotions raged on within him.

There were so many things he wanted to say to Mika, but he settled with a simple "Thank you."

"I hope you had a good Valentine's Day," Mika said and hugged Yuu. He was too happy to even speak or move. Yuu missed the warmth when Mika pulled away and said his goodbyes. He watched as Mika walked away and then looked back down at the small present in his hands. Yuu felt bad that he avoided Mika all day and didn't give anything in return.


	6. Chapter 6

I hope you liked the special Valentine's day update :) If you missed it, go read Chapter 5 first!

And for those who have read it, let the mystery be revealed lD

* * *

Yuu brushed off his friends' teasing as he left Shinoa's dorm. He wasn't in the mood for dealing with them so he left their study session earlier.

Once he got home, he was alone with the silence as both his parents were still working.

He went straight to his room instead of grabbing a snack or two first since he already ate pizza with his friends. Dropping his bag on the floor as he entered, he fell face first into the comforts of his bed. Turning to lay on the side of his face, he saw the neatly wrapped present from Mika sitting on the shelf at the head of his bed, along with the picture frames of him and his friends and family.

Yuu had yet to open the small gift given to him by his blond best friend. Shinoa was his other self-proclaimed best friend. Yuu didn't really care either way.

He picked up the wooden picture frame and looked at the picture. It was taken on the day of Yuu's 8th birthday. It was the only picture Yuu had of just the two of them. They met when they were 5 since Shinya moved out of the Hiragi's household. But after his mother's death, Guren and Yuu moved in with Shinya.

While Guren drowned himself in work, Yuu had avoided all social contact with others. But Mika ignored his new cold demeanor and tried anything to get Yuu to laugh or even crack a smile.

He knew that both Shinya and Mika were trying to help him through his mother's death. But what he needed was time to cope, not Mika showing up at his house everyday trying to show him a new TV show, movie, or toy. Granted, he did slowly started accepting Mika's attempts to get the blond to stop trying so hard, but it only made the blond try even harder to bring Yuu out of his shell. That's why on his 8th birthday, it was a small gathering of with Mika and Shinya along with his father and him. It wasn't anything too special. They had played video games, had cake, and opened presents. The picture was Mika's idea too. That was because the blond smothered whipped cream on his face after the first picture was taken.

Yuu laughed at the memory of the two of them covered in whipped cream. Then Yuu decided that Guren should suffer as well so the two children went to hug the unsuspecting man. Shinya managed to catch the whole progress on video. To this day, it was one of Yuu's best accomplishments in life. If he did anything remotely messy now, Guren would kill him without a second thought.

Looking back at the small gift, Yuu let out another sigh and picked up the small gift in his left hand. He had been staring at the gift for four days now. It's been haunting him that he doesn't even have the guts to open a gift from Mika.

If he found it on the porch with a tag that said 'from Mika', he should be suspicious of the content but it was handed to him by Mika himself. It wasn't abnormal that they exchanged gifts on Valentine's Day. But seven years after not seeing each other, Yuu almost forgot the tradition they had between the two of them. Yuu used to make cookies with Shinya while Mika made little crafts for him. This time, there was a definite weight to the gift, but it wasn't extremely heavy. It confused Yuu even further to what the gift could be.

Even stranger was that Mika hadn't contacted him in the four days. The last time he heard from the blond was Valentine's Day when he handed Yuu the gift. He would have guessed that Mika would have asked him about the gift by the second day.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

The fifth day was Yuu's limit. Yuu had been curious since receiving the gift but he wanted to wait for the perfect opportunity. But there was no perfect moment and the mystery inside the small box was eating him alive.

But he was in the middle of class when he made up his mind. He had a terrible time concentrating as his mind would always drift back to the gift and Mika, but it wasn't like he missed anything too important. With his mind made up, he was ready to get out of class and open the thing so it can stop haunting him.

On his way home, Shinoa texted him asking if he was going to hang out with them at the mall, but he declined because he wasn't going to let anything get in his way this time.

Shinya was home early but Yuu made a beeline for his room, greeting Shinya briefly as he walked by the living room. He was determined and excited to open the gift. But there was still a small part of him that was scared. He was hoping it wasn't a joke gift or a glitter bomb like Shinoa gave him three years back. However, this was Mika he was talking about. The blond would never do that to him.

Yuu made sure his door was closed and locked before he made his way to his bed. He held the gift in hand and took a deep breathe before pulling the red ribbon off. He mentally counted to three before lifting the lid. He pulled away the pink tissue paper to see a cute little heart keychain.

It was such a Mika thing to do. The blond had a love for small and cute things. It was something he learned after Mika returned.

But when Yuu went to pick it up, he realized it was actually two key chains, each with half a heart that fits together: one with the word 'sweet' and the other with the word 'heart'. Yuu furrowed his brows at the thought. He was slightly worried that Mika had given him the wrong gift, intending to give it to someone else. He looked at the lid to find some kind of tag or name for the recipient but found nothing. He even turned over the box to see if he had hidden the name there.

But when he turned it over again, the tissue paper fell out and he stared at the words on the box for a good five minutes. 'Will you be my boyfriend?' was written in very neat print, much like the writer.

After what seemed like forever, Yuu grabbed his phone from his bag and tried to call Mika. His heart was pounding so loud in his chest that it was drowning out the ringing tone of his phone. But even after four phone calls, the blond won't pick up, all going to his voicemail. Yuu decided to give up after the sixth call, not bothering to leave a message.

He looked back at the box and noticed a little red arrow under the message. Yuu started picking at it and pulling away the flap, inside was another message.

 _Hey Yuu-chan!_

 _I'm going to be leaving Japan the day after today. Mama Krul asked me to be a part of a fashion event in New York so we'll both be staying there for three weeks. I'm also not going to bring my phone with me since it'll be practically useless anyways. If you need anything, just leave a voicemail! I'll answer it when I get back!_

 _Happy Valentine's Day!_

 _Love, Mika_

"That's not fair," Yuu whispered at the box, "Leaving after confessing like this, that's totally not fair, Mika."

The knock on his door startled Yuu out of his thoughts. "Yuu, dinner's ready."

"Thanks papa Shinya!" Yuu called out and listened to the creaking of the wood as Shinya left. He put the tissue paper and ribbon back into the box and stored the keychain inside as well for safe keeping. A smile tugged at the corner of his lips just before he put the lid on the gift.

Yuu was happy that his feelings were mutual.


	7. Chapter 7

This chapter ended up a lot longer than I expected XD

* * *

"Why are you guys here?" Yuu asked after coming back to his room, only to find his friends a little too comfortable in his room. Yoichi, Mitsuba and Kimizuki were all seated on the floor while Shinoa was sitting on his bed. There were three bags of chips in the middle and various pop cans littered around.

"The man in question has arrived," Shinoa said and ran up to Yuu to pull him into the room. Yoichi got up and closed the door while everyone else looked at Yuu with various suspicious smiles plastered on their faces.

"Ahem," Shinoa cleared her throat as Yoichi joined the circle once again, "we of the Shinoa squad, have gathered here to celebrate cherry boy, I mean Yuu-san, who has finally gathered enough courage in his tiny brain and got himself a girlfriend! Let's all cheer and celebrate this occasion!"

They all clapped while Yuu gawked at them. "But he's not-"

"My bad, a boyfriend!" They all clapped again.

"Okay but how did-"

"Oh please," Mitsuba spoke up, "With the way you acted ever since the day after Valentine's, it was obvious."

"And seeing how you're in a better mood, everything worked out for the better!" Yoichi added.

"And this heart keychain on your bag is all the proof we need," Shinoa said, holding his bag in her hands. Yuu reached over to snatch it back but Shinoa already threw it away before he could reach her. It landed on his computer chair so he decided to ignore it for now while he focused on his four friends invading his personal space. "Also Shinya-nii and Guren-san also said you'd been acting quite weird for the past few days."

"I… I was confessed to-"

"Oh my god, it's true!" Shinoa squealed and pounced on him, crushing him in a tight embrace.

"Congratulations Yuu-kun!" Yoichi added happily as the other two nodded while watching Shinoa squeeze the life out of Yuu. It took a while to get his friends to stop teasing him to listen to what his question. They were all not so surprised that Yuu was confessed to, not the one confessing.

When they finally decided to listen, Yuu told them how Mika waited for him to hand him the gift, which was the matching heart keychain. Shinoa made a loud "aww" sound and demanded to know who's Yuu's not-so-secret admirer but Yuu refused to tell them or even know anything about Mika. It was already bad enough that they knew something was up, but he wanted to at least be dating Mika before introducing him to his friends.

"You should give him the other half of the keychain when you accept his confession," Kimizuki stated but Yuu shook his head.

"I want to do something special. To show that I'm serious about the relationship too. Besides, he's really important to me," Yuu admitted with a blush on his face. Shinoa nudged him on the arm and made a heart with her hands.

"Make him chocolates to warm his heart," Shinoa said and looked over at Mitsuba. The blonde blushed and looked away, but was fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.

"I don't want to kill or give him food poisoning," Yuu deadpanned. "Even if I did, I would ask Shinya for help but I want to do something by myself. I just feel like it would be more genuine that way."

"Then why not draw him something? You're a great artist," Yoichi suggested.

"You're a genius! Thank you so much, Yoichi!" Yuu exclaimed and enveloped the brunet in a hug. Yoichi laughed and hugged Yuu back.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Yuu almost dropped his phone when he saw the caller ID. The three weeks had passed, which meant Mika was back.

Yuu had spent two weeks restlessly working on the perfect gift for Mika. He had confidence in his work, but when it came to Mika, he deserved the best and only the best. Yuu did worry a little that there was something wrong with it. However, while he was working on the art piece, Shinya walked into his room complimented his work. Yuu wanted to keep the gift as a secret to help conceal Mika's identity from his friends and even made Shinya swear secrecy over the matter.

Coincidently, it was just three days before White day when Mika contacted Yuu again, but he wanted the surprise to remain a surprise. He was already getting jittery just seeing Mika's name appear on his phone screen.

He declined the call and opened up his messenger app instead.

 **Yuu:** Whats up?

 **Mika:** I left for three weeks and I miss you :(

 **Mika:** I'll be free after my photoshoots today. You can come over today ;P

 **Yuu:** Sorry, I'm busy…

 **Mika:** Oh

 **Mika:** Sorry if I was bothering you then

 **Yuu:** No! Not at all, just a heavy workload because I decided I could do it later…

 **Mika:** Yuu-chan, you know better than that!

Yuu felt guilty for making Mika sad like that but he wanted to make it extra special. He missed the blond a great deal as well, but he needed everything to work in his favour. And in order to do that, he needed to come up with a plan before he saw Mika again.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

On White day, Yuu helped himself into Mika's house and made himself comfy as he waited on the couch. He was lucky that Mika gave him a set of keys and the pass for the gate. All he needed to do was wait for Mika to get home.

But when Mika did get home, there was a moment of terror when he thought someone invaded his house before he recognized Yuu's sleeping figure.

Weirdly enough, Yuu woke up rather slowly even though Mika was sure the whole neighbourhood heard him scream. When he spotted Mika, he gave him a wide grin as if he didn't just give Mika a heart attack.

"Yuu-chan, what are you doing here?" Mika practically hissed after he checked around to see if anyone was checking out what his screaming was about. He glanced at the clock on the wall and frowned. "It's almost nine. How long have you been here?"

"I was waiting for you," Yuu pouted initially but a smile tugged at the corners of his lips again. "Come here Mika!"

Mika was wary since Yuu looked so excited but he decided to trust the man that invaded his home and waited for him to get home. If he wasn't scared half to death, he would be appreciative of Yuu's effort, since it was Yuu after all. He sat in the armchair adjacent from the couch Yuu was seated on.

Yuu scooted over closer to Mika and pulled a brown bag gift bag from the living room floor. Mika hadn't even seen it when he first entered or when he sat down because of the coffee table. Yuu held it out for Mika and his eyes sparkled with excitement. Mika hesitantly took it and rested it on his lap, making a mental note about the weight of the gift.

"You can open them in any order," Yuu said as Mika looked at the two wrapped rectangular packages. He pulled out of them out of the bag and rested the bag on the floor, just as Yuu had done previously.

He was careful with the wrapping and slowly unraveled the secret hidden in the wrapping. He could feel Yuu's impatience radiating off him, but he ignored it as he ever so slowly turned over the frame. He gasped when he saw the drawing. It was a coloured drawing of himself in his female clothes the first time they met in the park. While Mika was no artist himself, he could see that it was coloured with pencil crayons. He also didn't miss Yuu's signature in the corner of the picture.

"Well?" Yuu asked, a little nervously.

"It's beautiful," Mika whispered as he studied the details of the drawing. He didn't look up to see the smile widen on Yuu's face.

"Open the next one!" Yuu said as he was bouncing up and down in the seat.

"Okay," Mika said with a smile as he set the frame down on the coffee table. He picked up the other wrapped gift. The edge also felt similar to the frame from the first gift. He was a little excited to see if it was another drawing. He saw some of Yuu's sketchbooks, but seeing Yuu's art as gifts for him was a bit surreal.

Mika opened the second one faster, though he was still careful with the wrapping. He felt his face heat up when he looked at the art piece. It was a drawing of himself when he's smiling.

"You're really beautiful when you smile," Yuu commented and Mika's blush intensified.

"T-thank you, and for the gifts too!" Mika said as he reached for the bag to put the drawings away. But there was still some weight instead the bag when he lifted it. He put down the second frame on top of the first and reached into the bag to retrieve the small package.

He inspected the small rectangular shaped package, one that resembles a small jewelry gift box. He once again carefully unwrapped it and looked at the soft blue colour the box was. He lifted the lid to see the second half of a very familiar key chain. His head snapped up to look at Yuu who smiled sheepishly back at him.

"Happy White Day, Mika," Yuu said and turned his gaze away as he scratch the back of his neck, "The answer to your question is yes by the way."

Mika put down the last gift and reached over to give Yuu a hug. It was a little difficult and awkward with their current positioning but Yuu returned the hug as he wrapped his arms around Mika's back. He felt a sense of relief and accomplishment seeing how Mika accepted his gifts. Then his stomach chose that moment to growl embarrassingly loud.

"Would you like to eat dinner with me, Yuu-chan?" Mika asked as he pulled away. Yuu only nodded and he heard Mika chuckle.

"I'll try to be quick then." Mika stood up and walked to the open kitchen. A thought hit Yuu as he watched Mika turn on the lights in the dining area and kitchen.

"Thank you, my dearest boyfriend," Yuu called out. Mika froze in spot as a beautiful red blush appeared on his face.

"It's n-nothing, Yuu-chan," Mika said and walked with his head slightly tilted down, his bangs covering over his eyes. Yuu decided to waltz over the bar stools and sat down to watch as the blond prepared dinner for them. As he watched, he pulled out his phone to text Shinya about not coming home for dinner.


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry, was working on my assignments and almost forgot to update today!

* * *

Yuu knew that Mika had a busy schedule as a model. But it didn't stop him from texting Mika at every opportunity. He would also drop by Mika's house at least twice a week to have dinner together or have movie night.

Everyone was slightly worried by Yuu's new strange behaviour of smiling at his phone. But they all guess that it was because his _secret_ boyfriend. They were also super curious about who would even confess to their friend. While they all poke fun at him and tease him, they all also cared about him. But they could see that the person was very important to Yuu with how much he cared about the White day gift. And judging by the stupid smile on his face, they all knew it all worked out well.

One day while they were studying, Yuu was texting on his phone, again. But when Shinoa leaned over his shoulder, she saw a flash of blond hair before Yuu closed out of snapchat.

"Who was that?" Shinoa exclaimed and Yuu turned off his screen while their other friends all looked up to see what Shinoa was talking about. "Is that your boyfriend? Is he blond? He's totally blond, what does he look like?"

"Um, none of your business?" Yuu said as he went back to looking at his notes. Shinoa tried to lean and reach for Yuu's phone but it was too far from her reach.

"Don't be like that, Yuu-san. We're all friends here," Shinoa said and Yuu ignored her as he continued to work on his notes. She pouted at his behaviour and leaned over at her girlfriend for comfort. Mitsuba gave up on prying Shinoa off her as the two studied from their textbooks. Yoichi left because he had an appointment and Kimizuki left shortly after. Yuu found it increasingly hard to focus as Shinoa was shamelessly flirting and Yuu was once again the awkward third wheel.

He received a text from Mika that he was on campus and waiting for Yuu since he had a study session with his friends.

"I got to go," Yuu said as he looked up with bad timing. Shinoa had Mitsuba pinned down to the ground, neither of their textbooks remotely close enough to even pretend to be studying. He started packing his stuff in favour of not looking at his two friends.

"Why are you leaving us as well?" Shinoa asked and Yuu almost rolled his eyes.

"I don't want to third wheel. Again."

"You can join in."

"Please spare me."

"Mitsu-chan, I'm hungry. Let's go for lunch!" Shinoa said as she tossed her stuff to the side.

"You're always hungry," Mitsuba sighed but stood up from the floor. "But I also need a break from studying."

"Yuu-san!" Shinoa excited as Mitsuba looked for her purse, "Where are you going?"

"Away from you two for sure," Yuu responded quickly.

"Let's have lunch together," Shinoa said as interlocked her arm with Yuu's. Mitsuba locked the door before walking down the hallway and catch up her friends.

"I don't want to intrude on your date with your girlfriend," Yuu said as he tried to pry Shinoa off of him in the elevator. It proved to be futile for she had a death grip as Mitsuba called it. "Besides, I don't have time to hang around you guys."

"You know you love us, Yuu-san," Shinoa said cheerfully. She noticed a crowd of people gathered around the foundation that was usually not as populated. She dragged Yuu with her as exclaimed, "Ooooh, what's over there?"

"I don't know or care," Yuu said as they joined the crowd of people.

"Who is he?"

"Where is he from?"

"Is he a new student?"

"Fresh meat," Shinoa said deviously from what she deducted as she weaseled her way into the crowd. Many of the people grunted when she pushed them to make room for her smaller self. As much as she hated being so small, it had good points like giving her an advantage here.

Shinoa managed to get past the crowd and find a blond young man seated on the edge of the foundation and chatting with some girls. From the way they were ogling over the young man, Shinoa knew they wanted something more than his acquaintance. She didn't fail to notice how he seemed a lot more interested in his phone than the girls he was talking to. It was clear that he was just being polite when they were talking to him as he stood up to leave and declined their advances.

The crowd seemed to move along with the blond and Shinoa almost had to fight her way back to her girlfriend. Mitsuba was watching the crowd migrate while Yuu was typing away on his phone.

"I'm back!" Shinoa sang as she clasped onto Mitsuba's right arm. "Miss me?"

"Hardly. What did you find?" Mitsuba asked.

"Totally hot blond. If I was straight and single, I'd be in line to ask for his number," Shinoa said and Mitsuba rolled her eyes. "Don't get me wrong, Mitsu-chan! You're totally my type. Just if I was remotely interested in guys, I'd be swooning all over that."

"I never asked about that," Mitsuba said, though it was reassuring that Shinoa would choose her over someone else.

"Where's Yuu-san?" Shinoa asked as she looked around. She spotted his figure walking off campus and pulled Mitsuba along to see where he was headed.

It wasn't surprising to see him going to the subway station. But what was surprising was seeing the blond from earlier and that Yuu knew him since the two hugged. She squealed loudly in delight, catching the attention of people at the station, including the couple.

Yuu looked annoyed when he spotted her but the blond looked amused.

"What are you doing here?" Yuu hissed as Shinoa approached but she ignored him and went straight to Mika.

"It's nice to meet you, oh-so-secret boyfriend of Yuu-san. I'm Shinoa."

"Mikaela," he replied and shook Shinoa's hand. "Though everyone just calls me Mika."

"Oh my god, you're so my type if I was straight," Shinoa mumbled when Mika smiled at her.

"Pardon?"

"Ignore her," Mitsuba cut in, "I'm Mitsuba by the way and we're both friends of Yuu's."

"It's really nice to meet the both of you," Mika said and Mitsuba could feel herself being affected by his aura.

"My my, so polite. But how could come one like you end up with Yuu-san?" Shinoa asked and Yuu groaned.

"Yuu-chan and I have known each other for some time," Mika explained.

"Yuu-chan, huh?" the two girls said in unison.

"Please leave me alone," Yuu groaned.

"Hey, we should go on a double date!" Shinoa suggested.

"That sounds fun," Mika said just before Yuu was about to reject the idea. "Right Yuu-chan?"

"Aww, looks like someone is unhappy about it," Shinoa mocked. She knew that Yuu was completely opposed to the idea, but it was also fun to see that his boyfriend wasn't.

"Even if I said no, you'll probably just stalk us," Yuu said, though he was a bit upset that his date with Mika was ruined by his friends.

"You know us too well," Shinoa said as the train arrived at the station.

The four of them boarded the train. Mika, Yuu, and Shinoa were sitting in a row while Mitsuba just stood in front of them. Throughout the ride, Shinoa and Mika were talking to each other, even with Yuu sandwiched between them.

Mitsuba felt a little left out as she tried to enter the conversation a few times, only to be lost once again in their ability to switch topics quickly. Yuu knew that Shinoa would hog his boyfriend and after all, this was the first time they weren't spending time with Mika in the kitchen making food while Yuu is tempted to just sleep on Mika's couch of the night.

Mitsuba and Yuu occasionally talked to each other, though it seemed to have no effect on their respective partners as they continued to chat away about something beyond Yuu's comprehension.

Once they were at the mall, Shinoa suggested they watch a movie since Mika didn't have anything planned. They ended up in a horror movie since Shinoa loved the horror genre. Mitsuba was not a fan and often heard gasping when there was gore. Yuu and Mika were indifferent about horror movies, though jump scares always got them.

Mitsuba announced that she was scarred for life and will never watch another horror movie for as long as she lived when they left the theater. Shinoa tried to lighten up her girlfriend's mood with little success.

Shinoa suggested a slightly higher-end restaurant to end their double date night. Yuu almost forgot he was on a date since Shinoa always loved dragging all of them to the movies. Yuu and Mitsuba were often victims to her movie screenings since they were the closest to her. Yuu was just comfortable around his friends and Mika that it didn't feel any different from usual. That was until Shinoa crawled onto Mitsuba's lap after they ordered and demanded that Mitsuba kiss her.

After dinner, Shinoa and Mitsuba left for their dorm while Yuu and Mika went back to Yuu's house since it was closer. Yuu offered to drive Mika home, but the blond insisted he'd take the bus back while the evening sun is still out.

"I'll plan something more special for our official first date," Mika said as they walked onto the street where Yuu's house was.

"Today was special enough," Yuu commented, but he was delighted in the idea.

"I was given the rest of the rest of the day off so I wanted to spend that time with you," Mika commented, "but your friend had another idea in mind."

"Oh yeah, sorry about Shinoa. There's something wrong with her personality," Yuu joked.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, she's lovely. I'm actually really happy to meet your friends. They were really nice. I didn't have friends my age since I was homeschooled in Russia," Mika said and Yuu squeezed Mika's hand as reassurance. "I guess I did have two people that I could consider friends. But they were both older than me by two years and we meet the fancy corporate parties I attend as Misako."

"That sucks. I mean, now you have Mitsuba and Shinoa to call your friends too!" Yuu said happily. "And then I'll introduce you to Kimizuki and Yoichi later. We'll all be friends!"

"Thank you, Yuu-chan," Mika said and hugged Yuu, "for everything."


	9. Chapter 9

The wild Shinoa's squad appears! (I just like Mika interacting with the squad)

* * *

Yuu had been curious about cross-dressing ever since meeting Mika again. But to cross-dress himself, that was never a thought that crossed his mind. Neither did he think it would cross Mika's when he asked some questions regarding his alternate appearance.

He trusted Mika. But it was intimidating when there are brushes and other things being pointed at your face.

Yuu never tried on make-up himself and it was common for those in the drama to put on make-up for their shows. Yuu never really liked drama class but Shinoa was great at it.

Looking at the full body mirror in the dressing room Mika had, he had to agree that Mika had good taste. Adorned in a black sundress with green flowers, it surprising looked good with the fake clip on ponytail Mika helped put on. But still, he looked like himself with a ponytail and a dress. Yuu was surprised how much make-up could change one's appearance. If he wanted, he could make Mika disguise him as another person.

"So do you think you want to do an errand with me?" Mika asked as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"What kind of errand?" Yuu asked, looking back at his boyfriend. He could feel the ponytail swing around with his head movement, it felt kind of fun.

"A pick-up for mama Krul. And I was wondering if you wanted to tour around in your new get-up."

"Hell no."

"I didn't think so," Mika laughed.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Sunday afternoons were always the busiest time of the week at the local mall. People of all ages are here to shop, eat, or just socialize. But it was nice to get lost in the crowd so it felt like they were just another couple in the sea of people.

"Do you want to get some food after?" Mika asked as they reached the second floor where the food court was, but the store was on the third floor.

"Food, yes. Here, maybe. There's a lot of people here today," Yuu said as he looked over at the busy traffic inside the mall as they were on the escalator to the third floor.

They walked into the store right after a group of girls who were chatting with each other. Yuu was sure he heard one of them talking about Mika but he ignored them as Mika approached the worker behind the counter.

"Hi, how may I help you?" the attendant asked.

"I believe there's a pick up ready for Krul Tepes. I don't have the form with me," Mika said as he scrolled through his phone, "but I have a picture of it, is that alright?"

"Of course," she replied as she took the phone from Mika. "Do you mind if I…?"

"No, not at all," Mika replied, understanding that she need his phone to look at the order number. She mentioned about checking for his order before walking into the back. Yuu stood from a distance and looked at some of the clothing items put on display. He noticed the group of girls that came in with them standing nearby and they were definitely talking about Mika as they pointed at him with flirty smiles.

One of the girls, a brunette, walked over to Mika as her friends stayed back. Yuu eyed them warily as she started to talk to Mika. It seemed that his boyfriend was courteous and tried to shift away but the girl kept moving in closer.

Yuu walked over and threw an arm over Mika as he stared down the girl.

"How's the order coming?" he asked bluntly while the girl glared back at him. He could also few the other gazes of her friends but chose to ignore them.

"Ah, I think she got it," Mika said as the shop worker came back.

"Thank you for your patience," she said as she neatly folded the clothing she retrieved and put it into a paper bag. The other girl left while Mika talked to the worker. "Thank you for your visit. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Um, having my phone would be great," Mika mentioned. The woman perked up and handed the phone back to Mika.

"Of course!" she said before leaning forward on the counter, "Feel free to call me any time. My number is in your phone already."

"Um, thanks?" Mika said stiffly as the woman winked at him. Yuu wanted to yell at her that Mika was his but he chose to leave the shop quietly with Mika.

"Hand me your phone," Yuu stated once they were outside the shop.

"Huh?"

"Give me your phone Mika," Yuu stated again. Mika looked at him curiously before pulling out his phone, unlocking it, and handing it to Yuu.

Yuu clicked on his contacts and looked at the three names that came up. He recognized his nickname and Mika's mother, but there was a name he did not recognize.

"Ah, her name was Momo," Mika commented.

"Someone you know?"

"Not really, it was the first time I've seen her," Mika replied. "Wait, is Yuu-chan jealous?"

"Of course not!" Yuu said as he walked on with Mika's phone still in hand as he deleted Momo's number. _Good riddance_.

"Then why did you delete her number?" Mika asked, walking next to Yuu.

"Were you going to keep it?" Yuu asked as he handed the phone back to his boyfriend.

"No."

"… Also, why is my name-"

"Yuu-kun!" At the call of his name, he turned to see his friends looking at them. Judging from the surprised look on everyone face aside from Yoichi, who was smiling and waving at him, they didn't notice him until Yoichi called out to him. For a fraction of a second, Yuu contemplated on running away when he saw the smirk on Shinoa's face.

"Yuu-san, Mika-san, it's so nice to see you two here," Shinoa greeted as she looped her arm around Mika's.

"Stop flirting with my boyfriend!"

"Same here. I wasn't expecting to see you again in such a busy place," Mika replied, unfazed by Shinoa's behaviour.

"Don't play along with her!" Yuu exclaimed.

"Oh my, is someone jealous?" Shinoa said as she clung on tighter.

"N-no, I'm just concerned about what Mitsuba thinks about this," Yuu said and redirected the attention to the blonde.

"W-What?" Mitsuba exclaimed as she was dragged into the conversation.

"Aw, no need to be jealous Mitsu-chan!" Shinoa said and ran to hug her girlfriend. She went on to shower her in light kisses while Yuu averted his eyes.

"Why are we friends?" Yuu groaned and Yoichi laughed nervously.

"So you're the one Yuu has been trying to hide from us," Kimizuki stated bluntly, looking at Mika. "I've been wondering who was stupid enough to date, let alone like stupid Yuu."

"You wanna fight, telephone pole?" Yuu growled.

"I don't want to beat you so badly that your boyfriend has to carry you home," Kimizuki growled back.

"Then you better hope Yoichi can still recognize you after I'm done with you," Yuu retorted.

"Are they always like this?" Mika asked, pointing to the two men who were growling at each other while holding each other by the collar of their shirts.

"Unfortunately, but they don't actually fight most of the time," Yoichi said as he watched. He turned to the blond and smiled. "I'm Yoichi by the way. And he's my boyfriend, Shiho, but everyone else calls him by his last name, Kimizuki."

"Mikaela, but everyone just calls me Mika. I would normally be happy to meet new people but our boyfriends look like they're about to rip each other's throat out and that is frankly concerning to me," Mika said and Yoichi laughed nervously.

"They only ever fought once," Yoichi said as Shinoa walked up to the two young adults and pulled them down to her height.

"What was the result?" Mika asked as the two grew pale at something Shinoa said.

"I called a teacher and they both got detention for a week," Mitsuba said as she joined the conversation. "They're both hot-headed idiots if you ask me."

"So what brought you here, Mika-kun?" Yoichi asked.

"I came here to pick up an order for my mother with Yuu and we were discussing lunch plans," Mika explained.

"There's a restaurant nearby that is celebrating their grand re-opening today and we were just about to go. Would you like to join us?" Yoichi asked as the other three joined them.

"Wait, you four were going to some place new without me?" Yuu asked and glared at Shinoa as if it was her idea.

"You're always so busy with Mika-san so we didn't want to interrupt your quality time together," Shinoa reasoned. "But since you two are here now, the more the merrier, right?"

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

The six of them were seated in the back of the restaurant. They had seated them in the four people table and add a two people table to accommodate them.

After they ordered, the chatting resumed. It was mostly Yuu complaining about the workload forced on them but all the others were more accepting. While they talked, Mika was listening and making short comments about Yuu rather than engaging in the conversation. This did not go unnoticed by Shinoa.

"So Mika-san," Shinoa said, successfully redirecting all attention to the blond, "Where are you studying?"

"I don't go to school anymore. I'm working," Mika said casually.

"What do you do?" Yoichi asked and Yuu started to feel nervous. It wasn't like Mika could just tell them he was a model because if the pieces started to come together, they'll figure out his identity.


	10. Chapter 10

"I work as a fashion designer assistant. That's why I went to pick up some fabric sample from one of the stores. It kind of hard when you work under your mother. Even on a day off, I have worry about things like this," Mika lied flawlessly. Yuu was subtly surprised at the fairly thought out reply.

"Will you be following in your mother's footsteps then?" Yoichi asked.

"I'm not sure. She's an amazing designer, I'm not sure if I am capable of continuing that. She has already broken the scale of everyone's expectations, it'll be a hard act to follow," Mika laughed lightly.

"Seeing how his taste in partners, I'm not sure if he'll survive in that profession," Kimizuki said as he sipped on water.

"What are you-" Yuu's angry reply was cut off by Mika's cell phone ringing. They all went silent as Mika answered the call.

"Hello? … yes, that is me. … What did my- Oh, mama, I- please listen to me. Nothing good will- Mama, please just calm down for a second," Mika pulled the phone away from his ear and angry yelling of a foreign language was heard. "Sorry, I need to take this call quickly."

They all sat in silence as Mika continued to talk into his phone in another language. Kimizuki was tall enough to look over everyone's heads and the restaurant décor to see Mika exiting the building, probably to not disturb the other patrons.

"That was so hot," Shinoa whispered and everyone looked at her with a mix of surprise and disgust. "I call dibs when he breaks up with Yuu."

"What!? No! What about Mitsuba?" Yuu exclaimed.

"Haven't you heard of polygamy relationships, Yuu-san?" Shinoa asked.

"What language was he saying anyway?" Kimizuki interrupted a conversation he rather not be a part of.

"Uh, Russian? He said mama before he switched language so I'm pretty sure it's Russian," Yuu said.

"That's so cool," Yoichi said, "He looked kind of foreign, but I never would have guessed he could speak another language like that when his Japanese is so good."

"Sorry about that," Mika said as he sat back down with them.

"Is everything okay?" Yuu asked.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. My mother got angry over someone changing her design without letting her know and all her Japanese went out the door as she yelled at the poor man. I had to help settle it," Mika explained. "Tis the life of an assistant."

The food arrived shortly and the chatting resumed when the waitress left. Mika would have scolded Yuu for speaking with his mouth full, but seeing as his friends were no different, he decided to let it slide this time.

Mika was mostly quiet because he had no idea how to contribute as they were all complaining over final exams.

"You haven't started on your art portfolio have you, Yuu-san?" Shinoa said cheekily as she sipped her coffee.

"Don't even remind me," Yuu groaned, "but I did start."

"Are you in the art program as well, Shinoa?" Mika asked, curiosity getting the best of him.

"Well, I'm too short for modeling standards," Shinoa said solemnly.

"You're too short for regular standards," Yuu mumbled under his breath as the waitress came back to collect the used dishes and utensils.

"What did you say?" Shinoa asked against the clanking of ceramics.

"I was just saying that you only wanted to get into modelling because of Misako," Yuu lied quickly.

"She's a literal goddess," Shinoa swooned, "Not like Mitsu-chan isn't but you're more like Athena while Misako-san is Aphrodite."

"We're talking Greek mythology now?" Kimizuki questioned.

"I have an exam in that class two weeks from now. At least I know the Greek gods," Shinoa said with a shrug.

"What kind of art program are you in that requires you to take Greek mythology?" Mika asked.

"Oh, that class is my elective course. I'm in the fashion design program," Shinoa said and smiled, "I'll be looking for your help, Mika-senpai."

"I'm probably not someone you should look to for help," Mika laughed nervously.

"You're an assistant fashion designer, of course I would look up to you, senpai," Shinoa said with a wink.

"Actually, let me ask you for your opinion on something," Mika said and dug into the paper bag, "The fabric samples I got today were actually potential material for the summer collection that Misako will be a part of."

"DID YOU SAY MISAKO-SAN?" Shinoa exclaimed as she stood up, slamming her hands on the table, gaining the whole restaurant's attention.

"Sit down," Mitsuba hissed as she pulled her girlfriend back down. However, it didn't look like Shinoa was able to contain her excitement.

"You know Misako-san? You're helping design the summer line for her? YOU KNOW-" Mitsuba clasped her hand over Shinoa's mouth as she gradually got louder.

"If you couldn't tell, she really likes Misako," Kimizuki commented as Mika handed her the fabric samples.

"I think anyone would eyes and common sense knows," Yuu said and Kimizuki glared at him.

"Even if she is a model, she's still human," Mika commented. Shinoa gasped dramatically while Kimizuki and Mitsuba nodded in agreement.

"Don't you dare mock my goddess like that! She's practically the embodiment of perfection! Other models are just a pretty face but Misako-san is not only that and a heart of gold! Do you know what kind of things she has done for charities around the world?!"

"We don't need another speech on how amazing and perfect Miss Blondie is," Kimizuki said and Shinoa glared at him with such intensity that she could kill him solely from just looking at him.

"Which ones do you like, Shinoa?" Mika asked, trying to divert her attention.

"It's all very beautiful material. Your mother has a really good eye for this stuff," Shinoa said as she looked at the array of samples.

"We plan on using one of these for the main material for the line so I wanted to see which one you like as second opinion," Mika explained.

"I don't think I can help then," Shinoa said and handed back the samples to Mika. "They're all great that it's nearly impossible to just choose one."

"That's alright. I just wanted to see what someone who hasn't seen the designs would think," Mika said and put the fabric pieces away neatly.

"We should go since we're probably disturbing their business now that we're done eating," Yuu said, "You know, with Shinoa not being able to keep her mouth shut like usual."

"For once, I agree with stupid Yuu," Kimizuki said as Yuu simply shot him an unimpressed look.

Mika offered to pay for their meals and no one had any issues as they were all students and saving money is like earning money.

Kimizuki and Yoichi went back to the mall to buy some cupcakes for their sisters. The rest of them were heading home but went on the same path as the train station was in the direction of Mika's house. Shinoa wanted to stop by Mika's place to say hi to his mother and other stuff but Yuu refused before Mika could even come up with an excuse.

Shinoa was insisting on making a visit to the woman who was going to design for Misako but Yuu adamantly refused on the terms that he hadn't met with Mika's mother before himself.

Before Shinoa went willingly with Mitsuba into the station, she asked Mika to get Misako's signature for her. Mika agreed, as it was a simple task, and Shinoa walked away while reminding Mika of his promise.

"You don't owe her anything," Yuu said as they were walking down the quiet path.

"I know. But isn't that what friends do? Help each other?" Mika asked.

"Well yeah, but-"

"And it's not impossible to do," Mika added, "I'll just get my manager to print out some old promotional poster we had that didn't go public or something, sign it, and it's done."

"You're too nice, Mika." Yuu shook his head as he sighed. Mika simply laughed. "I mean if you haven't noticed, she's completely head over heels for you. Or is that satisfying your huge ego?"

"She's not head over heels for me. It's Misako she's pining after," Mika said and Yuu rolled his eyes. "And I think my ego is decently sized."

"As if there's a difference, Mr. Inflated Ego," Yuu said.

"There is," Mika argued. "Why else do you think I go by two different names?"

"You are impossible to reason with."


	11. Chapter 11

Yuu had never been so relieved that exam season has ended. At least he was done for the semester. But he was done and that was the most important part.

He decided to surprise Mika again, but this time he went over to Mika's house around the time the blond usually came back home from work. But even an hour after, Mika was not home or anywhere to be seen. Yuu was really close to reporting his missing boyfriend but decided to wait a little later before actually calling the police.

He had been watching TV and glancing over at the door during the whole hour. Instead, he pulled out his sketchbook to do some sketches to calm his nerves.

By the time Mika arrived home, Yuu finished three sketches while each of them took about 30 minutes.

He stuffed his sketchbook back into his backpack as heard the sound of a bag dropped to the ground. Yuu noted that Mika was out of his disguise and looking a bit tired. The first time Yuu saw Mika come home as Misako, he thought he accidentally broke into someone else's home.

"Hey Mika," Yuu greeted as Mika laid on top of him. Yuu had his back propped against the armrest and legs sprawled out on the couch, but there was still room for Mika to sit.

"Hey," Mika replied weakly with his head pressed against Yuu's chest and his arms wrapped around his torso. Yuu returned the gesture as Mika continued to cuddle him.

"Are you okay?" Yuu asked with genuine worry but Mika nodded softly against the fabric of his shirt.

"Just a bit tired…"

"I'd say more than a bit," Yuu commented but fell into deaf ears as soft breathing was heard from Mika.

Yuu remained unmoved as he didn't want to wake Mika from his nap. Instead, he enjoyed being so close with his boyfriend. He was never allowed to stay over, except for once time. The only reason was that the morning routines were hectic as others come and help him prepare for the day if he had to make an appearance as Misako.

After some time passed, Yuu slowly maneuvered himself out of Mika's grasp and off the couch. He went to Mika's room to retrieve a blanket to cover the blond. Luckily, Mika wasn't a light sleeper so Yuu accomplished his tasks with ease.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Mika slowly sat up and let out a yawn. As he rubbed his eyes, he became more aware of his surroundings. Then he remembered how he came home and fell asleep on his boyfriend. His cheeks flushed at the memory.

He looked down at the couch and wondered if Yuu had left as it was getting pretty late. Not to mention that he left the studio at eight. He felt guilty at the idea that Yuu went out his way to visit and he wasted it. Not to mention he really missed Yuu. They agreed not to see each other during exam season so Yuu could focus on his studies but it didn't mean Mika missed him any less.

"Mika?" The blond immediately perked up at the familiar voice. Yuu tried really hard not to laugh at how Mika went from disheartened to surprise in a second when he called for the blond. "Good morning, sleepy head."

Mika's cheeks flushed red involuntarily as he knew Yuu saw him when he was self-loathing. He got up from couch, abandoning the warmth under the blanket to hug Yuu. He noticed on the table were prepared dishes. "Yuu-chan, did you cook by yourself?"

"Well, I was going to," Yuu said as he pulled away from Mika but rested his hands on Mika's waist. "But I wasn't such a big health nut like you so I had no idea how to make something with half the things you had in your fridge. Then I was going to buy something to make but I had no idea how long you were going to sleep. So take out was the best choice,"

"Thank you," Mika said and gave Yuu a quick peck on the cheek. Yuu blushed at the unexpected gesture.

"Let's eat before the food gets any colder," Yuu said and Mika laughed. The two settled at the table and started eating. But Yuu was hungry earlier so he had already started eating, not that Mika needed to know that. "So Mika, why did you come home so late?"

"Uh… work?" the blonde replied and Yuu rolled his eyes.

"I meant why so late," Yuu clarified.

"Oh um, I've been working more hours so I could at least have one day off per week before you start your next semester."

"Wait, are you even allowed to do that?" Yuu asked after being flattered that Mika would do that just to spend time with him.

"The staff is paid hourly anyway so no lost," Mika shrugged and continued to eat.

"But isn't your schedule already ridiculously tight?" Yuu asked.

"Yeah. But cutting breaks shorter and working longer hours make it work out."

"Work stresses out your body. You're practically trying to do the impossible," Yuu deadpanned.

"But the great Mikaela did it," Mika winked and Yuu withheld the urge to roll his eyes at that.

"When do your days off start?" Yuu asked.

"I'm free for the next two days, why?" Mika asked.

"Good, cause I'm staying over tonight. After dinner, you're going to take a shower and I'm going to help you relax."

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Krul briefly thought about asking her son about the car on his driveway as he never received his driver's licenses in either country.

The house was dark when she entered. He must be asleep, she didn't blame him. She turned on the lights on her phone as she tiptoed to the kitchen. Mika was a light sleeper after all.

She looked in his fridge to make sure he wasn't eating anything unhealthy. She was pleased to find that he had stocked up on fresh ingredients and just a few bottles of sauces. She was a little uncertain about the fruit juices he had as the bottles of juices are high in sugar content, but making homemade juice was tedious so she'll just let it slide.

She contemplated on checking on her son but he was already 18, turning 19 in a month. She turned on her heel to leave when she heard voices coming from upstairs. Normally she would walk away but it wasn't just one voice, but two.

She slowly made her way up the stairs and prayed that the soft squeaking of the wood didn't give away her presence. But upon hearing rather obscene noises that seemed to be coming from her son, she bursted into the room. Two pair of eyes stared at her in surprise as she took in the scene. Her son was laying on his stomach with his shirt off with a stranger sitting on top of him, fully clothed in blue PJs that she recalled buying for Mika before they came to Japan.

Though the way they were positioned, Krul could tell that her son was getting a back massage despite the earlier sounds.

"Mama!?"

Yuu could feel his heart stop when he realized how bad this situation could seem like to Mika's mother. He scrambled to get off Mika but ended up falling off in the process.

"Um mama, this is Yuuichirou, my best friend and well, now boyfriend," Mika said as Yuu got back on his feet. "Yuu-chan, this is my mother, the one from Russia."

"I-It's nice to meet you," Yuu stuttered. Krul was very much amused by the fact that the two were blushing as if they were caught red handed. But she kept her neutral face as she stared at them.

"Ferid was telling me about how you were trying to overwork yourself so I came to check on you. But I seem to be a step too late," Krul said. Mika wanted to say something but she held up her hand. "You and your boyfriend will be coming over for dinner tomorrow. Have a good night."

Silence followed her leave. It was so quiet that Mika could make out the squeaking of the stairs and the shutting of the front door.

"Sorry," was the first thing Mika said when he gained the sense of reality.

"For what?" Yuu asked as he sat down on the bed and tossed the shirt on the side table at Mika.

"I forgot to mention about us dating to my mother before," Mika said as he slipped it on. He ran his fingers through his hair a few times to get it back to its usual manner. Yuu leaned forward and planted a small kiss on Mika's nose.

"It's fine. The time you spend with your mom is already as limited as it was," Yuu shrugged. "But do you think she might dislike me at all?"

"Not at all! She wanted to meet you when I told her about you back when we were preparing to come to Japan. It just kinda slipped my mind…"

"I kind of wished I gave off a better first impression," Yuu groaned as he fell back on the mattress. Mika patted his back in sympathy.


	12. Chapter 12

"Are you sure I'm dressed okay?" Yuu asked for the millionth time.

"Yes, Yuu-chan. You're as handsome as can be," Mika said as Yuu drove up to the gates of the Tepes' estate. Mika said something into the intercom but Yuu was too busy fidgeting with his collar to pay attention.

Despite having Mika telling him he looks great, he still felt inadequate to meet a world famous fashion designer. With how their first meeting went, he wanted to impress Krul and not disappoint any further.

As he drove along the brick road, Yuu couldn't help but admire the aesthetic of the front gardens. Being a famous designer must meant that Mika's mother had money to spend. But he could see her creativity shine in the simple way she made the garden hers. The Hiragi family was equally, if not more, weathly but their land was plainer to the eye.

When Mika told him to simply park by the side of the brick road, Yuu almost wanted to disagree as it would ruin the aesthetic of the whole view. But if Mika said it was fine, he can't argue since it was his mother's house.

"Are you sure I look okay like this?" Yuu asked as he looked down at his button up shirt and grey pants.

"Yes, Yuu-chan," Mika laughed softly and rang the doorbell. A muffled chiming rang behind the front doors and Yuu felt nervously all over again.

"But like what if-"

"You look perfect so stop fussing around," Mika interrupted and the front door opened. The older man in a modified tuxedo looked at the two and Yuu's greeting died in his throat.

" **Good evening, young master. We've been waiting for you and your friend."** The man greeted in a foreign tongue to Yuu. The man moved aside and the two of them stepped inside. Yuu briefly marveled at the beautiful interior before slipping on his shoes.

" **I expected mama had sprung this on you and the staff last minute. Oh, we have the car parked near the front of the house if that's fine. I had no idea where else to park the car,"** Mika replied in Russian. Since Yuu couldn't participate in the conversation, he decided to look around. The walls were painted in a soft orange, almost like a sunset or autumn colours that matched beautifully with the wooden furnishing.

" **Lady Krul does not have any guest tonight so do not worry about it,"** the man said as he led them deeper into the house.

"What were you two talking about?" Yuu whispered to Mika after a moment of silence.

"Um, it's nothing of importance," Mika said. "I almost forgot to introduce you to Albert. He came here with us from Russia to serve as the head butler."

"I can speak the Japanese, but I prefer my native language," Albert said, his words thick with an accent. "Do not think of speaking behind my back in your language. I will know."

"Don't worry, I won't," Yuu laughed nervously.

"Ignore him, he's always like that," Mika said playfully. The two bantered a little more until they reached the dining room. Yuu found himself seated uncomfortably on one side of the long table with Mika. From the way they were positioned, he expected more people.

"Don't stress out so much over it, Yuu-chan. Mama isn't as scary as people think she is," Mika said.

"I just want your mother to not hate me or anything. What if she makes you break up with me or something?" Yuu said and Mika shook his head.

"That's not going to happen. I mean, if she didn't, she wouldn't have invited you over for dinner right?" Mika tried to reassure his boyfriend.

The doors opened and Krul stepped into the room with Albert following behind. She sat across from Mika and Albert helped push in her chair.

"Welcome Yuuichirou," Krul said and Albert made his way out of the room. "I'm glad you're able to join us today."

"Pleasure is mine to be in the presence of someone as great as you," Yuu said, "And Yuu is just fine. My parents usually refer to my full name when I'm in trouble."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now, forgive me if I'm being blunt, but was it because of you that my son has been trying to overwork himself?"

"Mama, it wasn't-"

"Shush child, I'm speaking with Yuu right now," Krul said and looked at Yuu. Mika also glanced at Yuu.

"I did not know that Mika had been working himself so much. Even before we started dating, I knew how ridiculously packed his schedule was but I never complained or anything as this is the career that Mika chosen for himself. If he was happy with what he was doing, I was happy for him. After we started dating, we tried hard to plan around his schedule and my classes. Of course I'd be much happier if we were able to see each other more often than we do now. But I also recognize that even if we don't, I'm still as in love as Mika as I've always been," Yuu said and looked at his blushing boyfriend, "And I hope that Mika feels the same way as I do."

"And I'm going to stop you right there before you two get any sweeter that I don't even need my dessert to get my daily dose of sugar," Krul said with small smile, "but I like you. Please take care of my son."

"Don't talk like we're going to get married!" Mika exclaimed as his face got redder. Yuu also felt a faint blush on his face as he turned to try to hide it.

"You looked pretty intimate to me yesterday," Krul mentioned and smiled slyly. "Oh Yuu, if you have a chance, teach my son some techniques. These old bones need some massages."

"Mama, you're not that old," Mika said.

"Don't let this face fool you," Krul deadpanned. "This old bones will give away my age a few years from now."

"Live life while you're still young," Mika said.

"Don't use my words against me."


	13. Chapter 13

Sorry, working on a stupid group project and pretty much forgot to update! But here is the new chapter!

I know that canonly it was Mika's father was Russian but I'm already messing around with facts so much that it doesn't matter at this point lD

* * *

Yuu felt more comfortable as time went on. Mika was right, Krul looks intimidating but she was really nice person. It was nice to see that Mika had a good relationship with his mother, the biological mother.

As he got to know Krul, he couldn't help but wonder about the family that Mika used to have. He knew the couple divorced, but they did love Mika as he was their own. Krul was friends with the woman that cared for Mika for the first 12 years of his life. He couldn't help but wonder what they mean to Mika now.

"This dessert is amazing," Yuu exclaimed at the first bite of the chocolate cake.

"Albert always made amazing desserts," Mika said.

"Of course he does, why else do you think I brought him over with me?" Krul jokingly boasted.

"Because that is the only reason why Albert it's still around despite serving your family for so many years," Mika retorted.

"Is that any way to speak to your mother?" Krul asked.

"Of course not, mother dearest. I would never think to speak to you in such a manner," Mika said playfully.

"Well then, my sassy son, why don't you go to my office and check over the designs I have made. This way I don't have to take any more of your time with your oh-so-precious boyfriend." Krul noticed the way Mika tensed and quickly glanced at Yuu so she added, "I'd like some time to speak to him individually if you would please excuse yourself."

"I don't know if that is a good idea…" Mika said and looked at Yuu, who shrugged. He was much less nervous than when he first arrived. At least he was convinced she wasn't going to throw him out of the house.

"Go on now," Krul said as she made the shooing movement with her left hand. Mika glanced at Yuu again, who smiled with an idea in mind.

Before Mika even moved to get up, Yuu leaned over and pressed a small kiss on Mika's nose. A nice blush appeared from the sudden gesture. Mika wordlessly got up and left the room. Yuu laughed lightly at his revenge when Mika caught him off guard the day before.

"I hope you're not playing with him," Krul said, her voice void of amusement or joy that her early tone carried.

Yuu turned to face her as her cold demeanor returned. He knew how serious the situation has become. His answers here were going to affect her opinion on his relationship with Mika. For any mother, they wanted the best for their child so Yuu could understand her concern.

A childhood friend that her son left 7 years ago suddenly appears and they start dating shortly after?

It almost sounded impossible to Yuu as well.

"I can promise you everything I feel for Mika is genuine," Yuu spoke with confidence. "I would never use, joke, or play with anyone's feelings. Especially not Mika. Even if we were not dating, he's still someone really special to me."

"Then what do you plan for the future? Where will my son's place be in your future?" Yuu paused for a moment as he gathered some of his thoughts. This was probably the deciding factor if Krul was going to allow them to stay together. He'd be really mad at himself if he messed up now.

"I will be honest to say that I'm not sure what I want of my future, but I do want Mika to be a part of it. Whether we are married or become just friends once again, I cannot control what Mika feels towards me and I will not force him to stay in a relationship with me if that is not what he desires," Yuu said. He noticed something changed in Krul's features as he spoke. He hoped she noticed that he was genuine with his words.

"I can assure you that you're very important to him. Someone who he thought about during his first few years in Russia." Krul said with a distant smile. "Mikaela had always been a quiet boy. He didn't speak much when he arrived. I wouldn't have expected anything more from a child who just learned that his parents were getting a divorce and weren't his actual parents."

"But Mika doesn't blame you, or anyone for the matter, for that," Yuu added and Krul shook her head.

"No, it was my fault. But if I hadn't done that, he never would have met you," Krul said as their gazes met. If she had always been there for Mika, he would have most likely spend most of his early years in Russia. Yuu couldn't help but wonder how differently their lives would end up. "I know Mika didn't blame anyone, but himself. Honestly, I can't even tell you if he got that from me or his father."

Yuu decided to keep silent as he had no idea how to properly respond at his moment. All he knew were bits and pieces that Mika would tell him about, but there were never any mentions of his biological father.

"You know, he took up modelling because of me too," Krul said, but she sounded like she was reminiscing rather than speaking to Yuu. "Aside from helping him learn beyond conversational Russian that Larisa spoke with him, there was nothing we could talk about. At this point, I was convinced that Albert spoke to him more than I did. He spoke a lot more Japanese than he did before because of Mika."

Yuu remembered Larisa Shindo as Mika's mother, and how he spent ages just trying to say it. Guess Russian doesn't come easy to him.

"You would expect little kids to want to go outside, run around in muck and dirt, then come home and get the house all dirty. But not Mika. He liked staying home. Even if we went out, he'd stay close to me. But I know it was tough to growing up in a world where everything was in Japanese then suddenly it's not," Krul said and took a sip from her tea. "He would sometimes come into my office and marvel over my designs. People always said to have your kids involved in whatever they're interested in. I love making my own clothes and seeing that Mika had been about the same size as I was, I borrowed him as my fit model. And I believe you know the rest of the story from there."

Yuu nodded. He did corner Mika into explaining why he had a whole room just filled with typical female apparel and wigs.

"Don't tell Mika this but I asked them to transfer me here. Japan is a big market for some of our designers, including me, so I pushed for an office here and then applied to come here. As an internationally famous designer, it doesn't matter where I am stationed, but for Mika, this move was big," Krul said and looked at Yuu, "And he got to meet you again. I knew he wasn't very happy being in Russia, but ever since he met you again the first day we landed, he's been smiling more, so thank you."

The door opened again before Yuu could reply. Mika came into the room and looked a little surprised to see them both looking at him.

"Did I interrupt something?" Mika asked.

"Not at all. Yuu was mentioning how was it was getting late, so you two should get going," Krul said as she stood up. Yuu silently followed her lead as they left the dining room. Honestly, the house was so big that Yuu would take some time just knowing how to find the washroom again.

"Thank you for everything tonight. The food was amazing," Yuu said, "Now I know why Mika's cooking is so good."

"I'll be sure to let our cooks know that," Albert said as he was stationed at the front door when they walked by the kitchen. Yuu and Mika slipped on their shoes while they all exchanged goodbyes.


	14. Chapter 14

After spending three whole days with Mika, the blond had to go back to work. It wasn't like Yuu didn't expect it, but spending time with Mika so carefree during his break was like heaven.

Sleeping was also heavenly but was rudely interrupted by the blaring sound of his custom ring tone for Shinoa. Honestly, she wasn't deserving of one but she stole his phone and changed itherself. Yuu was too lazy to change it back.

He tried to ignore it the first time but Shinoa was persistent. And that was because her idol and goddess, Misako, was having a signing event and she needed all the posters she could get her hands on.

While usually Yuu ignored these things, he got a chance to see Mika for a fourth day in a row. He could wait four more days till Mika's next day off, but the offer was there and he was already up, unwillingly that is.

However, waking him from his sleep was rude so he gave her a piece of his mind when he arrived. But Mitsuba looked in worse shape since his friends, without Yuu who was spending most of his time with Mika, went out drinking the night before. Yet Shinoa was practically vibrating with excitement and energy despite how wasted she looked from last night's snapchats.

Apparently Yoichi and Kimizuki were also called to join them, but they were too hungover to even leave their beds. Yuu felt like Mitsuba should be joining them, but being roommates and girlfriend of Shinoa, there was practically no escape.

They were supposed to go one by one but Mitsuba was so out of it that Shinoa dragged her along. Yuu almost laughed at the face Mika made when Shinoa approached him. Shinoa was such a big fan of his Misako persona that he almost felt bad for the unsuspecting blond.

He could practically hear the whole conversation from where he stood since Shinoa was so loud and practically yelling every time she spoke.

He saw the silver haired man lean in to whisper something in Mika's ear. The blond smiled apologetically at the excited Shinoa since they were on a time constraint and Shinoa wanted to spend as much time with Misako as possible.

"You're taking too long," Yuu complained as Shinoa tried to argue against the event crew. Her face lit up when Yuu walked forward.

"I'm with him! " Shinoa exclaimed happily.

"I don't know her," Yuu blankly retorted. He briefly watched as Shinoa was pulled away by the event staff. He was slightly amused by his petty revenge on Shinoa.

"Are you here to confess your love for me as well?" Mika asked in his female voice, or as Yuu dubbed it.

"No, unless you want me too," Yuu said and Mika giggled. "And sorry about Shinoa, she was dropped multiple times as a baby."

"Well, I'm glad she's okay now," Mika said and opened the marker cap on the marker in hand. "Also what's the name I should sign this too?"

"That's determined by your definition of okay. But you can do me a favour by signing your name and number right on the poster." He never really flirted with Mika during their times together but it felt natural in the moment. But they both seem to enjoy their antics as Mika did his little giggle thing again.

"That goes against my contract unfortunately," Mika said as he signed the poster. "But you can have my signature."

"I'll take what I can get," Yuu said with a shrug and took the poster. "See ya."

Mika smiled and waved as Yuu went back to his incredibly upset friend. If they weren't in public, Shinoa probably would have strangled him.

"Here's what you woke me up for," Yuu said and handed her the poster. Her face immediately lit up as she held the three posters in hand. Yuu looked around and asked, "Uh, where did Mitsuba go?"

"She said she was going to get an espresso or two," Shinoa asked automatically as she was practically drooling over the posters. It was really weird to see how Shinoa was marveling over his boyfriend. After all, the one behind the wig was Mika. She probably isn't the only one but it didn't make it any less weird.

Yuu looked back at Mika who was smiling at yet another fan as he continued the signing session. Yuu had accepted the fact that this is what his boyfriend does but it always seems surreal when he's actually there to experience it. Mika was no different from Misako aside from being his own female persona with a life in the fashion world. There is a very fine line between the two but Mika made sure to keep it as separate. Mika lived in the shadows while Misako is a popular model recognized worldwide.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Shinoa asked. Yuu wasn't going to lie that her sudden question scared the living out of him.

"I thought you were staring creepily at your posters," Yuu said and Shinoa punched his arm, playfully but hard enough to actually hurt.

"There's a difference between the picture and the actual person. It's not like the petty cameras they use can truly capture the beauty that is Misako." Yuu decided to stay quiet as he listened to Shinoa ramble on about Misako.

It was slightly terrifying when they all found out how obsessive Shinoa was. But over time, they got over it but were planning to get her professional help if it got any worse; which leads Yuu to think about what Shinoa would think when she finds out that Misako isn't actually real and it was Mika. But the fact that Shinoa was rather smitten with the blond already makes him worry even more.

Sometime after Shinoa started her long spiel, Mitsuba came back but dragged Shinoa with her back to the dorm because she really wanted to go lay down after two espresso shots in a large coffee.

Shinoa kept talking as they sat on the train. Yuu decided to go along with them as Shinoa seemed to be unaware of her girlfriend being on the verge of passing out. Luckily they were back at the dorm before Mitsuba collapsed in bed with a groan, not even bothering to move the sheets underneath her while Shinoa was still talking.

Once Shinoa was turned around, Yuu used the chance to run out before Shinoa dragged him back to listen to her talk. While he was nowhere as tired as Mitsuba, he too wanted to go back home and take a nap at the least.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Mika carried on as usual despite the creepy smile on his manager's face. He knew that Ferid was up to something but he couldn't tell what it was. But he wasn't going to do anything about it and hoped that Ferid doesn't say anything.

And of course the man chose to speak about it when they were in the van. With just the three of them, there was practically no one to interrupt.

"You looked rather happy to see one of your fans," Ferid broke the silence as they slowly pulled to a stop at the red light.

"I always act like I'm happy to see them. Also, if it weren't for them, I wouldn't be where I am," Mika replied quickly.

"You know who I'm talking about, Mikaela," Ferid said playfully. The van started moving again and sometimes Mika wished that the driver didn't know about his real identity so Ferid couldn't pull off things like this.

"I can have a life outside of being a model," Mika stated as he knew there was no avoiding it. It's better to tell Ferid what he wanted to know than having him pry into his personal life.

"But he knows what you do. He must be a close friend," Ferid said. The way he was talking sounded like he was trying to imply something.

"And why do you care?" Mika asked, trying not to sound defensive.

"As your manager," Ferid said with pride as he placed his hand over his heart, "I need to keep your identity a secret to protect your career."

"Shouldn't you be protecting me as well as my career?" Mika inquired but refused to look at the man as he already knew that his only answer is more excuses.

"That is the job of a bodyguard. I can arrange something if you require that service," Ferid said. Luckily, Mika noticed that they already pulled into the gated community. After another block or so, they would reach his house and put an end to their conversation.

"As great of idea that is, that's not the type of protection I need so I think I'll decline on that offer," Mika said as they pulled onto the driveway. "I will see you tomorrow."

"Have fun with your friend," Ferid called out of the window before closing it and the van took off. Taken out of context, that sounded really bad. He was just lucky none of his neighbours were there to witness that scene.


	15. Chapter 15

I'm not getting any better at remembering to post on time...

Anyways, hope you enjoy the chapter~

* * *

The best thing about the school year is the break before the semester starts once again. Yuu didn't have class for two whole weeks and he was able to spend most of it with Mika. He even learned a bit of cooking. Though he wouldn't say his skills were great enough to cook a whole meal by himself. But he could help in the kitchen.

Shinya was pleasantly surprised that Yuu offered to help prepare dinner the few times he was home during the break while Guren joked about dying from food poisoning.

While food poisoning was not as probable, Yuu did almost mix up the sugar and salt. Luckily Shinya caught him before it was too late. He was too used to cooking with labels on the bottle rather than a different colour cap.

They met up with his friends once over the break and Shinoa spent most of it talking about Misako. Yuu didn't expect Shinoa to get over it in three days but because Mika was there, it was almost awkward. _Almost_ as the blond didn't even look like he minded. He even got Shinoa that signed poster he promised. He swore she attracted the attention of the whole mall with her loud scream.

He had never seen her ever this excited. She was bouncing off the walls when she met Misako for the first time at the signing session, but Mika had gotten her a whole collection of his promotion posters. All except the newest once since she already had three. But Mika lied and said that Misako remembered her and told him that she already had one.

Shinoa nearly fainted.

At first, it had been weird thinking that Mika and Misako were the same person even though Mika looked extremely convincing as a girl. He even acted a lot like one. But as Yuu got to learn more about the blond, he could tell the many similarities between the two. Aside from the physical aspects, there were things Mika did to separate his two identities.

Speaking of the blond, Mika had been texting him from his changing room. His photoshoot was scheduled for half an hour later than when his class was to start.

But once the hour hand struck 3, Mika texted him a short goodbye and turned off his phone so Yuu wouldn't be tempted to send a text, thinking he would get a reply. It would also be inconvenient if a certain someone saw their texts according to Mika. Yuu had no idea what Mika was going on about he trusted his judgement.

He would talk to Shinoa and Mitsuba but they were too busy flirting with each other. Though it looked one-sided and even more so that Shinoa was annoying Mitsuba.

5 minutes past the time class was supposed to start and someone was talking about Misako. Shinoa whipped her head around and joined in with the conversation with the group for of guys behind them. Yuu resorted to resting his head on his arms and tried not to fall asleep as he listened to their conversation.

"He's a total hunk. Who wouldn't want to date him?" Shinoa said. Sometimes he wondered why Mitsuba chose to be with Shinoa when she will literally flirt with every hot person she sees. She doesn't necessarily pursue them but then Mitsuba had to step in and resolve the mess that Shinoa created.

Shortly after some guy replied to Shinoa's statement, a number of phones chimed in the lecture hall. Yuu was one of them. He pulled out his phone and saw in his notifications that it was a snapchat from Mika's work snapchat. The blond made a personal one after Yuu coaxed him to. But he had a work once to give sneak previews of their clothing line or just to connect with his fans.

Various gasps and 'I knew it' echoed in the almost full room. He can already hear people using the snapchat as proof.

'Misako Hyakuya and Crowley Eusford reporting for duty' was the little caption that Mika added to the picture of a selfie with the two of them smiling and holding up peace signs.

Early in the week, Mika had told him that he was doing his first photoshoot with another model. Crowley had been a long term model that worked on many projects with Krul's design agency. They were also employed by the same model company.

While he did agree that the two made a good modelling couple, he didn't agree with anything more than a work relationship. _Misako_ might be single but Mika was not at all.

Yuu tried really hard to focus on the lecture but his professor's monotone voice helped no one. He could already see a few people in the front starting to doze off and Yuu would love to join them. Instead he thought about Mika.

He could still remember how his boyfriend was talking about being nervous to do a photoshoot with another model. Crowley Eusford was another big name in the fashion world. Mika had a few magazines from his manager featuring the burly man. Crowley was like the perfection that guys want to strive for. But Mika was perfect the way he is. Yuu gave himself a horrid mental image of Mika looking as burly as Crowley that it woke him out of the sleepiness that loomed over him.

But after another 15 minutes trying to concentrate but failing very poorly, Yuu resorted to daydreaming once again. If the snapchat was anything to judge by, Mika was having fun while Yuu was stuck in class and suffering.

He can't recall why he took the History of Art but here he was, bored out of his mind. He looked over at his two friends and surprisingly Mitsuba was the one who was nodding off while Shinoa was diligently taking notes. Yuu honestly did not know how someone could even pay attention to a class so boring.

He pulled out his phone to look at the time. 4:28 stared back at him on the screen, which indicated that there was still another half an hour until he gets to leave and see Mika.

He had promised to go see the blond after the photoshoot and he needed something for his boring monotone day.

He thought back to the snapchat and frowned a little. He wished Mika wasn't having so much fun with Crowley.


	16. Chapter 16

Yuu could smell something delightful but he wasn't ready to get up just yet. He was sure Shinya or even Guren was going to walk into his room any second to wake up him and tell him breakfast was ready. But he wasn't in his room. He was at Mika's house, sleeping on his couch.

He sat up immediately at the realization and noticed a blanket that fell gently on his lap. Mika must have given it to him after he came home. He reached for his phone on the coffee table and saw that it was almost 8.

He saw the missed messages from his father and Shinoa. He replied to his father and told them that he was going to be home late and decided to reply to Shinoa later. Tucking the phone in his pocket, he walked over to the open kitchen and sat on the bar stool by the kitchen bar table.

Yuu noticed how concentrated Mika was and didn't notice how Yuu was just sitting there watching him cook. By the looks of it, he was almost done cooking too.

He pulled out his phone to reply to Shinoa as he waited.

 **Shinoa:** You okay?

 **Shinoa:** You left class in a hurry

 **Shinoa:** Mitsu-chan is worried about ya

 **Yuu:** Yeah, had something on my mind

 **Yuu:** But why are you the one to text me about it

"HOLY FUCK!" Yuu looked up at his phone to see Mika looking back at him in surprise with one hand over his heart and the other holding a death grip on the pan handle.

"Hey Mika," Yuu said with a small smile.

"Hey," Mika breathed out as he moved to submerge the pan into sink full of water. "Hope you slept well. Would have been nice to have a little warning though."

"Sorry," Yuu said as he scratched the back of his head, "Thanks for ah, letting me crash on your couch."

"Oh, ah, that's not a problem," Mika said as he moved to retrieve two plates of food. "A little warning would be nice next time you wake up. Like a 'hey, I'm awake now Mika' or something."

"How about I'm hungry?" Yuu asked and Mika smiled.

"That works too."

The two sat down at the dining table and ate. Yuu complimented Mika's cooking again, just like every time he ate Mika's home cooked meal. It's not just that it was good, it was also because Mika put in the effort to make it as well while Yuu would have chosen fast food or takeout over cooking. But if it was for Mika, then he would at least attempt at cooking.

"So how was class today?" Mika asked, dragging Yuu out of his thoughts.

"It was boring as usual," Yuu said as he picked at the chicken strips. "Almost fell asleep in class too."

"Again?"

"I'm pretty sure Mitsuba did though," Yuu shrugged. "How was work? You seemed to be having fun with Crowley Eusford."

"Hm, oh yeah. Crowley was actually really nice. He's a real gentleman too," Mika said nonchalantly.

"Is he better than me?" Yuu asked before stuffing his mouth with food. He looked up at Mika as he tried to keep his mouth closed while chewing.

"Well, he is older so it makes sense that he's more mature than the both of us. And not to mention that he's not even single to beginning with," Mika said and then looked over at Yuu worriedly when he started choking, "Are you okay?"

Yuu nodded as he reached for the glass of water and gulped it down. He let out another cough before drinking the rest of the water in his cup.

"Sorry," Yuu said before letting out another cough, "that caught me by surprise."

"What did?"

"That he's not single," Yuu said, "but it does make sense at the same time. If he's such a gentleman like you said, people would be all over that."

"But I didn't even get to the best part," Mika said after he finished chewing, "Crowley's more head over heels than his partner. And that partner so happened to be my manager it seems."

"No way," Yuu whispered. He was never one to like gossip but any topic with Mika was a good one. "How did you found out? Did he tell you about it?"

"No, they were shamelessly flirting in front of my change room," Mika said casually. "It made the whole photoshoot better too because we talked about my manager most of the time instead of having awkward silence between shots and during break."

"Hm, sounds like you were having a lot of fun while I suffered in class," Yuu commented as he picked at his salad. He found a cherry tomato under some spinach and plopped it into his mouth.

"Well, History of Art does sound a little… boring, but it's a required course. And I'll have you know that while Crowley was a nice modeling partner, it doesn't make the job any easier," Mika replied. "The only real plus side about it was that I was able to get some dirt on my manager so he would stop teasing me so much."

"I… I'm sorry Mika. I just got worked up over some things my classmate said. I didn't mean to take it out on you…" Yuu said and Mika stood up. "Mika?"

"Hm, what?" Mika asked, then noticed the worried look, "Oh, I was just putting my plate in the sink and getting dessert. Keep talking."

"I just… would you promise not to be mad at me if I told you?" Yuu asked as he watched Mika step into the open kitchen.

"Sure, I'm pretty sure it's not anything too bad."

"It's just that people were saying how you and Crowley made a great couple and I don't know, I guess I felt jealous that _Shinoa,_ out of all people agreed with it," Yuu said and listened to how quiet it was in the kitchen after he spoke. "Mika?"

"Sorry, I'm just, ah, not sure what to say to all of that," Mika said. "I mean, for Shinoa, who almost worships Misako to say that she looks good with Crowley, it does make a pretty convincing argument."

"And I totally trust you. It's just, sometimes I feel like you deserve someone better. Someone who would treat you right… give you everything you wanted…"

"But there's no other Yuu-chan," Mika spoke softly and Yuu looked up to see Mika holding out a slice of chocolate cake. "Albert made this and wanted us to have some."

"I really love you, you know that right?" Yuu asked. Mika felt a bubbly feeling in his chest before nodding. Yuu smiled at him and took the plate. "And Albert's desserts."

Mika laughed. "I love Albert's desserts too."

* * *

Take Yuu's feelings into consideration Mika XD You're going to be the cause of his premature death XD


	17. Chapter 17

Yuu turned to his digital clock and the time 6:28 stares back at him. He tried to sleep last night after coming back from Mika's house, but he couldn't stop the nagging feeling that something bad will happen. Mika had always been a little secretive about his modelling jobs but something big must have happened if he was going to attend a press conference. Now here he is, laying half-awake on his bed as Yuu could not fall asleep with these thoughts floating around in his head.

He wasn't necessarily tired, but he was too lazy to get up. It was a Friday and Yuu didn't have class. Guren and Shinya usually get up for work at this time, which Yuu learned the hard way when he accidently spent an all-nighter on a new game he got.

As he closed his eyes, he could hear the footsteps and sound of running water from the washroom. He wondered if he should get up or just keep lying in bed.

Another few minutes passed but he was still as awake as ever. He turned to sleep on his side but it did nothing to help. He groaned and pulled the sheets over his head. He heard his phone ping with a new message and had to pull the sheets off his face to look for his phone on the floor.

Holding the device in his hand, he turned up the brightness slightly before clicking into the group chat with his friends. Shinoa added Mika after the time they met in the mall, but the blond was not on very often. Yuu knew it was because he was busy with work but his friends brushed it off as he was shy, though Yuu would argue that Mika was anything but shy.

 **Shinoa:** Rise and shine my minions! Today is the glorious day that my Goddess is holding a press conference. Remember to watch it at 11am today!

 **Shinoa:** Also Yuu-san, why are you up so early today? Were you playing video games all night again? Or was it because of your bf ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 **Yuu:** Shut up

He forgot that the app had a read notification when he opened it to read the messages. There was nothing he could do now. It wasn't like they would understand if he tried to explain it. Especially when Shinoa's mind is always in the gutter.

The knock on his door distracted him from his social media feed and he looked up to see Shinya peering into the room.

"You're up early today," Shinya commented and Yuu rolled his eyes.

"Couldn't sleep," Yuu replied, "Was it Shinoa who tattled on me?"

"You know it," Shinya said as he waved his phone. "Do you want to join us for breakfast?"

"I guess," Yuu said as he threw the sheets off him. Shinya smiled before walking back downstairs to the kitchen. Yuu went to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face to give himself a little wake up. Looking into the mirror, he could not see any obvious traces of lack of sleep.

He walked out of the bathroom and headed downstairs. He mumbled a good morning to his two parents and ignored the confusion on Guren's face.

Yuu ate breakfast in silence along with his parents for once. He was never usually up at this time and nor was he feeling like talking. Soon, Guren and Shinya left to go to work while Yuu laid on the couch, flipping through channels to pass the time before the press conference.

He left on a cartoon for two hours as he scrolled through his social media feeds and worked on his art portfolio.

The time was easier to pass when he started working on his art pieces instead of watching the hands on the clock tick slowly towards 11. He only changed the channel when he got an update in the chat where Shinoa was vibrating with excitement considering that she was writing in all caps and Mitsuba sending SOS messages.

30 minutes left to the official start of the conference but the room was already filled with reporters and shutters of cameras.

They were still going on about the rumors about Misako and Crowley dating. Yuu couldn't wait until Mika debunked those as fake. He knows it's ridiculous how jealous he is over the rumor but he still didn't like them.

The reporter started talking and Yuu looked up from his sketchbook to see Mika walk on stage with the silver haired man he remembered from the autograph session. From the name tags laid out on the table, he was Mika's, or Misako's manager. There was also another person sitting on Mika's left who appeared to be from HR of the modelling company Misako was contracted with.

Yuu watched intently and noticed some amount of tension between the three people on stage, sketchbook long forgotten. Mika looked far from relaxed but he had the same usual smile on his face. He leaned forward to the microphone as the whole room quiet down.

" _I'd like to thank everyone that came out to my first ever press conference. It was also be my last as I will be retiring as a model."_

Various gasps were heard through the speakers and Yuu himself was also gaping at the news. He ignored the pings from his phone as he concentrated on the television.

 _Hushed whispers filled the room but Mika spoke again._

" _I understand that it may come as a shock for many of you as my decision was abrupt but it was due to some internal affairs. I used to love modelling. It was fun for me to try different fashion trends and share it with the world. I loved meeting new people in the industry as I model for companies, for magazines, and so on. But I loved doing it because I could choose what I wanted to do. As my name grew bigger in the industry, more and more companies are looking to recruit me to model for them. My most recent dispute with my agency is that they tried to sign me up for a job that did not respect my personal philosophy."_

 _Misako leaned back and turned to the HR representative, who nodded at her._

" _We, at the agency, thought that it would be in Hyakuya-san's best interest to take on more variety of jobs to expand her career further. However, this led to a dispute as there was a conflict of interest that was unknown to us. For alternate arrangements, we agreed to a joint photoshoot of Misako Hyakuya and Crowley Eusford. We find it an unfortunate loss that Hyakuya-san still decided to terminate her contract as a result of this dispute-"_

" _I would like to add," Misako cut in, "that neither my manager nor I knew of the original arrangements set by the agency. My contract termination was not a result of the simple dispute, but because the agency's lack of respect for me as a person and tried to sue me-"_

 _Misako paused when Ferid placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked ashamed for a second before leaning back in her chair. Ferid gave the crowd a polite smile before taking the microphone from the stand._

" _As Misako-san's manager, I have the responsibility of being the middle person between the agency and Misako-san. The result of this issue was a devastating one; we are losing one of our best models over trivial problems. I am willing to admit that I have not been keeping Misako-san's interest in mind at all times; however, I will say that during our discussions over this topic, some very unprofessional things were said on both sides and the best decision was for Misako-san to terminate her contract. While it is an unfortunate outcome, but Misako-san has decided for herself and I'd like to ask everyone to respect it as it was a hard decision to make."_

Yuu leaned back on the couch as he thought about everything that just happened. It was so unlike Mika to get so worked up, but it was only proof that he was very upset with the situation.

He felt so shitty for not being there to help share some of the burden with Mika. Instead, he complained about the ridiculous amount of readings and assignment he had for his courses. Yuu had no idea what was going on in Mika's life while the blond was smiling and calling him an idiot every time they were together.

Yuu spaced out during many of the questions the reporters were asking about the whole situation. But one question drew his attention back to the television.

" _Question for Hyakuya-san, the rumors about you and Crowley Eusford true? We have some compelling photos that suggest that you two are more than acquaintances."_

" _I'm sorry to interpret," Ferid interjected, but his tone didn't match his message, "But this is not the time or place for such questions."_

" _That's okay," Misako said and looked at her manager. "I would like to clear up any misunderstandings or rumors before I leave the celebrity circle. To answer your question, the rumors are false. Crowley-san and I are simply friends."_

" _Then what about the news about you dating the rumoured son of Krul Tepes?"_

" _What do you know about her rumoured son?"_

" _Are you two close?"_

Question after question, the reporters all seemed to what to know about Mika, the real him. Yuu watched anxiously as the camera changed from the reporters to the stage. But Mika had an unsettling smile on his face, once that sent chills down Yuu's spine.

 _"This wasn't quite how I imagined it would go, but I guess there is no harm in telling the world." Many were confused to the sudden voice drop but Yuu knew that Mika stopped using his female voice that he used to keep up his female persona._

 _Without wasting another second, Mika pulled off the wig along with the hair net to reveal his natural curly blond hair. Some bobby pins came loose and fell to the floor but some were still secured in the fluff of hair._

 _"My real name is Mikaela Tepes and I am the rumoured son of Krul Tepes. Misako Hyakuya was just a guise used but I no longer want to live in the shadow of my own creation."_

* * *

*insert dramatic music*


	18. Chapter 18

I changed my upload days to Monday and yet I'm still late OTL Sorry everyone!

* * *

Yuu watched as the room erupted into chaos. Reporters were all standing and shouting questions. The event crew were trying hard to get everyone to calm down and Mika had to be ushered off stage with his wig in hand.

His phone was going off like crazy at this point. He assumed it was Shinoa.

All that was left on screen was everyone trying to calm down the crowd so he turned off the television and reached to finally check his phone.

There were more than 50 messages in the group chat and a growing number from Shinoa alone. As the notification updated with every new messages, the sentences became more unreadable, as it looked more like Shinoa was smashing random keys and sending them to Yuu.

Among the chaos, he got a single message from his boyfriend.

 **Mika:** Come meet me at my house. I'm sure you have questions.

Yuu wasted no time to change into something more appropriate before grabbing his car keys and headed out the door.

He made to the gated community in record time only to be greeted by a crowd of paparazzi. He tried to make it past the group but was unsuccessful and also swarmed by the crowd. One of the security guard walked over to his car and looked at his pass before getting other guards to make way for his car and letting him in.

He still couldn't believe the amount of trouble Mika created by doing a sudden reveal.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Ferid walked back into the back room where Krul was pacing back and forth.

"The crowd is still pretty riled up and demanding for answers right now," Ferid reported and Krul bit the bottom of her lips. "Where's Mikaela?"

"I sent him home. There's no point of him staying back any longer," Krul said as she sat down, "What has gotten into him? He's never been like this."

"Perhaps it's his special friend," Ferid said and Krul looked up at him surprised, "I'm just saying that he's been acting rather odd lately. He never acted like this when we first met, I just thought it was because of the influence of someone in his life."

"I understand," Krul stood up and looked Ferid directly. He felt intimidated by her aura for a second, "You will assist me as I address the media."

"If you're doing what I think you're planning, you could potentially lose the trust of your clients," Ferid said and Krul paused in front of the door. She looked back at him with a blank expression before giving him a soft smile.

"I can afford to lose my job, but I cannot afford to lose my son or his happiness. Besides, the company still need me for administrative guidance," Krul said and left the room.

Ferid shook his head as he sighed in defeat and followed behind her.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Mika stepped out of the car and thanked the driver before the closing the door. He waved at the man as the car pulled out of the driveway.

Yuu's car was already parked on his driveway. He didn't expect there to be a delay at the gates, but he was thankful for the security measures in place to give him privacy. He didn't expect the paparazzi to be so diligent. He probably should have listened to Ferid a little more about how he needed to be very careful in the public eye. But the secret is out now so it didn't matter.

Mika turned the key but the click never came. He turned the doorknob and the door opened with ease. He was a little surprised when he saw Yuu staring back at him in surprise before changing it to a more neutral expression, one where Mika could not read him.

"Hey," Mika called out, forgetting to scold Yuu about the unlocked door. Instead, he walked into the house and locked the front door while Yuu took a seat on the couch.

"Hey," Yuu replied. An awkward silence filled the space between them. Mika shifted from one foot to the other, his tongue licking over his dry lips as he formulated what he should say next.

"I ah, called you over because I thought you might have some questions. But you came earlier than me… So…"

"Questions right? How about we start with why am I learning about this now? And through a public press conference no less!" Mika looked away and Yuu let out a long sigh as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, I'm not mad at you. I'm just… frustrated."

Mika said nothing so Yuu slowly walked towards him instead. "Mika? I didn't-"

"No, you're right. I've been selfish, I'm sorry…" Mika slightly jumped when he felt Yuu wrap his arms around his waist. "Yuu-chan?"

"You're an idiot," Yuu calmly stated, "I am too for not noticing."

"What are you-"

"Mika," Yuu said and pulled back to look at him in the eyes, his hands resting on Mika's hip, "I'm upset that all these things have been happening and you didn't tell me about it. But I'm also upset with myself for not noticing how stress you probably have been for the last while."

"No, that's not-"

"Then what is it?" Yuu asked. Mika could see a mix of concern and sadness in the emerald green eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I… I didn't want you to worry…"

"I'm more worried now! You had a quarrel with the company, quit modelling and now the entire world knows who's behind the wig and makeup. Just look at my phone!" Yuu said as Mika looked at the lock screen. "113 messages and 7 miss calls from your biggest fan."

"Oops," Mika said as the phone timed out and the black screen stared back at him. He could faintly make out his reflection, but well enough to remind him that he still had makeup caked on his face. "I need to clean this makeup off."

"Go ahead, I'll make some tea. You still like that tea bag stuff right?" Yuu said as he walked towards the kitchen, slipping his phone into his pocket in the progress.

"Thank you, Yuu-chan," Mika said as he walked upstairs to the bathroom.


	19. Chapter 19

Updates have been changed to Mondays because of my current schedule! Follow me on twitter for more update information!

* * *

As Yuu waited for the water to boil, he pulled out his phone to answer his unread messages. Shinoa started off with coherent sentences that slowly morphed into keyboard smashing with a few words that made sense. However, the last two sentences were sent 10 minutes after the last incoherent sentence.

 **Shinoa:** Is Misako really Mika?

 **Shinoa:** ARE YOU DATING MY SUPERMODEL GODDESS?

Yuu stared at his phone before texting a quick reply and shoving his phone into his pocket.

 **Yuu:** I'll talk to you later about it

The water in the plastic kettle bubbled as it boiled, steam puffing out the spout. He opened the cupboard to his right and pulled out a white ceramic mug. He found Mika's collection of herbal tea. Yuu looked at the bright orange box and mused at the new addition to Mika's collection.

"Admiring the gift I got from Albert?" Yuu turned around to see Mika smiling at him across the island table, casually lounging on the bar stools.

"Your collection is growing ever more," Yuu said as he turned around again, pulling out the box he needed before putting the others away. "Do you need all this tea? Like will you ever finish it?"

"They all have different purposes. One benefit of green tea is reducing your chances of heart disease," Mika said as Yuu dropped the tea bag into the mug and unplugged the kettle. He poured the hot water and watched as the water change colour slowly.

"Here's your leaf water," Yuu joked as he handed the hot cup to Mika.

"Thanks," Mika said as he looked down as his steaming tea. "I guess I owe you an explanation, about everything that had been happening."

"I watched the whole thing, but I feel like there was more to the story," Yuu said and Mika nodded.

"Like I said before, only very few people know about my secret. Whenever Ferid finds a new job for me, they have to be very flexible with my terms. That's another reason I often model for my mother's work rather than others. But the people at the company only saw it that I was rebelling as I didn't do big name jobs." Yuu listened intently as Mika spoke. Mika had a distanced look in his eyes as he stared at the tea. Now was not the time for him to speak, but to listen. "They were fine with it at first. Despite being well known before coming to Japan, they let me do whatever I wanted. But Misako only gained more popularity with my stay in Japan and the company saw it as a chance to make profit from my fame."

"Mika, you said something about the company signing you up for a job. What was that about?" Yuu asked. Mika looked up at him, almost startled before a small blush appeared. Yuu quirked an eyebrow when Mika lifted the mug to take a sip of tea as his eyes glanced to the side. Yuu opened his mouth to ask again but Mika moved the cup, hiding his face behind it.

"They, they tried to sign me up for a lingerie photoshoot." Yuu's face flushed red at the thought. The blush on Mika's face darkened as he took another sip.

"Oh," was all Yuu could say in the situation.

"I-I…," Mika paused and cleared his throat, their gazes lingering everywhere but each other, "I started modeling because I found an interest in how the clothing looked. I wanted to show off the clothes to the rest of the world so they could see the beauty of it in the way I do. But with lingerie, I felt like it was more of show off the body than the clothes itself. Not to mention how it'll most likely give away my secret."

Yuu looked over at Mika and an unwanted mental picture appeared in his head after what Mika said. He mentally smacked himself for thinking in such a way about his boyfriend before Mika spoke up again.

"I told them. I told them about my modelling philosophy, how it was about the clothes and not me. And they laughed at me. 'It was never about the clothes' they said, 'Modelling had always been about the person selling the clothes. No one cares about what it was, but who wore it is what they cared about'. They called me stupid…" Mika looked up at Yuu with teary eyes, the sight itself broke his heart, "Is it stupid, Yuu-chan? Am I stupid for thinking such a thing?"

Yuu briskly walked around the island table to Mika. He watched what Yuu was doing before putting down his mug and opened his arms for Yuu. He wrapped his arms around Yuu's torso and rested his head against his shoulder. Yuu also wrapped his arms around Mika.

"No, they're the ones who are stupid and wrong. Modelling should be about the clothing but the model is also important to bring out the beauty of the clothes they wear. You were never wrong."

Mika's arms tightened around Yuu and he could feel tears soaking into his shirt. He held Mika and ran his fingers through the blond locks. They stayed like that for a bit as Mika calmed down. Yuu didn't move away. It was comforting for Mika, but also for Yuu because he felt like an outsider when Mika hid his problems. He know he probably couldn't do much if he knew about the situation, but he wanted to at least share the burden.

"Mika," Yuu spoke softly, "what are you going to do now that you quit modelling?"

Mika lifted his head and looked at Yuu with his tears stained face. He brought a hand up to wipe away the tears as Mika nuzzle against the warm hand.

"I was thinking of doing some fashion design. I do have some degree of experience so I don't imagine the classes to be too bad," Mika said, "and I get to go to the same school as you."

"That sounds like a great idea," Yuu said with a soft smile, "but you'll be in the same program as Shinoa."

"Then she can be my senpai," Mika said with a weak smile. Yuu didn't know how to feel about it, but at least Mika knew what he wanted to do and Yuu would support him to the end of the world.


	20. Chapter 20

Thank you to everyone who have been reading the story to it's conclusion! I really loved the idea and I was a little afraid to share it with everyone because of the discourse from tumblr. But my friend encouraged me and it seemed like some people also enjoyed this as much as I did :D So thank you for you, who have been following, so far 3

My next work is a Shinsuba one :) I hope you all enjoy that one too!

* * *

Opposed to contrary belief, Misako's popularity skyrocketed with all major gossip magazines covering the story. A great majority of the fans were extremely supportive of Mika whether he was male or female. To reply to their support, Mika sent out his first snapchat video as himself just thanking his fans and all those that have been supporting him.

Even though Mika quit modelling, he was still relatively active on his work snapchat to connect with all the people that still supported him.

When Mika started university, a lot of people loved what a relatable student he was. It also became a game of Where's Waldo as Yuu would show up in the snapchats and people would scramble to figure out who it was. For their first year anniversary, Mika took a snap for his fans so they could stop posting online about Mika's mysterious boyfriend. Though Mika was sure it was Ferid who started the whole mess.

It was hard at first to get back into the routine of going to class as he was used to pacing himself for his online courses. But he really liked having other people around and being able to have discussions instead of writing paragraphs of replies on a forum.

Yuu switched his general arts major to fashion designing and had to take some of the basic first year courses. He was able to take those classes over summer, but chose to wait and take them with Mika, who came fresh into university. It was going to cost him another year to do that but he rather watch his friends all cross the stage together and then do so with Mika the year after, assuming they all graduate as expected.

While Mika wasn't entirely sure if fashion designing was what he wanted to do, he was having fun at university. He could figure things out later after all.

After the second year in the program, Krul approached Mika with a proposal her company had been working on. With the hassle of working with modeling agencies and the current expansions within the company, they created their own department in Japan for contracting models.

Krul respected Mika's decision if he never wanted to model again, but even after he 'retired', he still aided her in her work. Mika held no qualms about modelling, just the company he had been contracted with.

He agreed to work and signed on as their part time model as the department was still new and small, with him as their only contracted model so far. But he was still a full time student first and foremost.

After Mika told his friends that he was going to start modelling again, Shinoa suggested that he could work with both male and female clothing lines. Mika didn't think on about it for too long as Shinoa did make a good point.

After a few months, the company also hired Yuu and Shinoa. Yuu worked as a part time assistant under Krul and Shinoa worked as an assistant to Mika's temporary manager as they organized things.

Mika may have borrowed a few of Yuu's designs to show the company and they were happy to have him work under Krul while he completed his studies.

Shinoa, on the other hand, was incredibly enthusiastic to work with the company that contracted with Misako after they had job postings. When they saw the interest and passion during her interview, they gave her an assistant job with Mika's manager, though she mostly worked with Mika. It lightened the manager's work load a great deal as he was trying to manage two other models as the department grew from when they first started.

Working almost 9 months, Shinoa was promoted to being Mika's manager with a more experienced manager as her mentor while she fully grasped the job.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

"Are you sure this looks alright?" Yuu asked with a frown, obviously dissatisfied with the result.

"It's perfect so don't fuss over it," Shinoa said as she smacked Yuu's back with enough force to make him stumble forward.

"Ow, what is that for?" Yuu asked after he regained his balance and glared at the smaller woman.

"Look, this is Mikaela you're trying to impress, it's not that hard of a task," Shinoa said, then softly smiled, "especially when it's from you."

"I know but I just want everything to be perfect for him," Yuu said as he looked around the room. He asked Shinoa to help him but even with the help of someone who spends the most time with Mika, next to himself, something just didn't sit right with him, "and I can't shake off this feeling that something is missing…"

"That's your boyfriend himself," Shinoa sighed, "Just call him already!"

"I just need to find-"

"Hello. Sorry to bother you on your day off," Shinoa shifted to the side when Yuu lunged towards her, most likely trying to grab for her phone, "Yuu-san is being a nuisance about this surprise he has for you. … Ya, come over to the studio. … Okay, bye! And done"

"Why did you do that?" Yuu exclaimed. Shinoa shook her head as she walked towards the doors. "Look, Mika-san is on his way so stop fussing about it. And I have a lovely dinner date waiting for me at home."

"I hope Mitsuba gives you food poisoning."

"That's why we're going out tonight," Shinoa said and winked at Yuu. "Good luck tonight! Not that you really need it."

Yuu let out a frustrated groan as he looked around the room. Shinoa was right, everything was fine and ready. He walked out of the studio and sat in the waiting area. He leaned his head back with a soft thud against the wall and took deep breathes. Everything was going to work out.

He wished Mika would hurry up and arrive but he also wished that he would stop being so nervous over the whole ordeal.

~ The Cross-dressing Model and The Artist ~

Mika knew that Yuu was working really hard on some sort of project but he was being super secretive about it this time. He always shared his designs and work all the time, but Yuu said this current project was a surprise. Even when he asked his mother and Shinoa, they also said it was a secret.

He was happy that he was finally going to learn about what Yuu was working so hard on, but it was hard to relax as he could feel the eyes staring at him and soft whispers that filled the train.

"Is that him?"

"That looks like him."

"Why is he taking the train?"

He didn't blame him for their curiosity but he always found it awkward when people started whispering around him. It didn't help that he was staring directing at himself in an advertisement.

He never got around to getting his driver's license because he never needed to. He had a driver for work purposes and other times he had Yuu.

It also wasn't his first time talking public transportation. But he usually wore a beanie and sunglasses in an attempt to hide away from prying eyes. He stood out less that way. But he got too excited over Yuu's project that he left home without it.

His stop finally came and Mika hopped off the train with a crowd of people waiting to board. It was the beginning of rush hour and he was already dreading the ride home.

But he'll be spending that time with Yuu so it didn't matter too much. But knowing his boyfriend, Yuu would complain about being hungry.

As he walked to the studio where Yuu worked, he couldn't help but think of all the possibilities. Shinoa mentioned about a surprise on the phone, but more importantly, a surprise for him. He always thought that Yuu was working on an interesting project that he didn't need Mika's help on and wanted to do something without the support of his boyfriend.

There had been some nasty rumors that had been floating around when Yuu started working as a full time solo designer, no longer working under Krul as an assistant.

They said that he only made it so far because Krul was sheltering him, which meant they knew little to nothing about her. She was a slave driver at the finest and held nothing back no matter who you were.

Mika knew too well.

But Yuu didn't care and went on to prove them wrong that he wasn't just hiding in Krul's shadow to help his name grow in the industry.

Mika was really proud for him and his accomplishments thus far. Yuu's studio was in the same building as Krul and two other from the same company. He could still remember how happy Yuu looked to see his own studio space and the two of them spent a month to decorate and make it his own space.

He still hasn't made any big achievements but it was only a matter of time before he was well-known in the industry that is rightfully competitive.

The chime of the elevator broke Mika out of his thoughts and he stepped off.

Yuu was sitting in the waiting area and he looked up with a smile when he heard the chime of the elevator. Mika walked over to Yuu as he stood up and slipped his phone in his back pocket. Yuu opened his arms and Mika smiled before hugging his boyfriend.

"You're cold," Yuu said, his voice muffled against Mika's light jacket.

"It's cold outside, what do you expect?" Mika laughed lightly. "So what's this surprise Shinoa was talking about? I'm dying to know."

"Oh, right," Yuu said as he pulled away. Mika watched curiously as Yuu picked up a long piece of fabric, the texture looked familiar. If memory served correctly, it was a fabric sample that Yuu was using as the main theme for his spring designs. "It's a surprise so I'm going to need you to trust me."

"When do I not?" Mika said and took the piece of fabric from Yuu. He tied it around his eyes and made sure it cover his entire field of vision. "Okay, my life is in your hands now."

"Do you need to be so dramatic?" Yuu asked with a tinge of amusement as he walked behind Mika and directed his boyfriend into the studio. He made sure to take careful steps and look over Mika's shoulder. "Watch the step."

Mika walked onto the raised platform with little trouble but Yuu was struggling a bit more as he had to watch out for Mika as well as himself.

"You ready?" Yuu asked as they stopped.

"Ever since I learned about the surprise," Mika half-joked.

"Then wait no longer!" Yuu said and untied the blindfold. Mika blinked a few times before he saw the beautiful white dress standing before him. Mika looked at the work in fascination. He didn't know what he was expecting but it was beyond what he would have imagined. "They asked me to be a guest designer in the annual bridal show and I got inspired but I wanted to make this first before showing you."

Mika turned around to comment on the masterpiece but gasped when he saw Yuu kneeling on one knee, holding a small box with a ring inside.

"Yuu-chan…" Mika whispered behind his clasped hands, his eyes watering from the overwhelming emotions.

"When I first agreed to this project, I was unsure if this is a good idea. Even when I decided to work as a fashion designer, I'm not sure if this is the career I wanted. But what I do know is that I want you by my side for the rest of my life," Yuu said, looking up at Mika with hope filled eyes, "Mikaela Tepes, will you marry me?"

Mika nodded, his voice lost in the swell of emotions. Yuu's face broke into a smile as he stood up and slipped the ring onto Mika's finger.

"Now that the important question has been answered," Yuu said and looked at Mika with a sheepish smile, "Would you care to model the dress I created in the bridal show?"

"Of course," Mika said, the smile never leaving his face, "I would never say no. I want to show the whole world what my fiancé is capable of."


End file.
